Lo Ti Proteggerò Fratello
by foREVerhauntingme
Summary: "Feli?" No response. He was asleep. "Feli, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you from this...but, don't worry...I will take care of you and together we will make it through this. Ti voglio bene, fratello, e ti proteggerà." Human names used; Spamano, Gertalia
1. Let it Burn

_**So, this is just going to be one of those horribly sad stories that makes you all "AWWW!" and "NO!", but if you're still willing then go right ahead...**_

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><p>Ti Proteggerò ... Fratello<p>

**Chapter 1: Let it Burn**

"_No!"_

_The words left his mouth before he could stop them. The army men turned and stared at him._

"_Run!"_

_Lovino screamed at his brother, who just stood there in shock._

"_Corri! Ora, Feliciano! Vai!"_

_Feliciano couldn't will his legs to move. His brother fought to get free of their grasps, but couldn't. They were dragging him to an armored car. Their house was beside them…burning. He himself barley managed to escape from their room's balcony in time. Now his brother was caught. He had to do something._

"_Fratello!" _

_That had been a mistake. The men that flanked his brother looked at one another and then to a man that approached them. The man raised his gun and shot Lovino in the chest._

"_NO! LOVINO!" _

_The man that had shot his brother, turned towards him and nodded in his direction. This was the signal for the guards to get Feliciano too. _

_The northern half of the nation, finally able to move, turned and ran down the chaotic streets of Venice. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. His brother…his other half…was dead. That man had murdered Lovino. Now he wanted to do the same to him. Feliciano needed help. He needed Ludwig._

_He ran and didn't stop though his lungs felt like they were going to burst. The cuts on his body from the attacks on the land screamed in agony. Citizens of his country fled past him in mass chaos. The city was burning and the invading army was marching through, terrorizing his people. Even worse than originally thought; they didn't just want to invade Italy…they wanted to destroy it…starting with Lovino and Feliciano._

_As a building nearby exploded, pain shot through Feliciano's shin as it snapped in half. He screamed and crumpled to the ground. The men that were chasing him caught up to him and flipped him on his back. They smiled down at his bloodied form. One of them raised his gun and pointed it at Feliciano's chest. __**I'm going to die.**__ The thought passed as he fired. The moment it hit, Feliciano's eyes got heavy and the world became fuzzy. The last coherent thought to pass in his mind was: __**dart gun…**_

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><p>Wet…cold…weak…<p>

As his brain began to process that he was wakening up, Feliciano began to absorb his current situation. He was curled up on his side, the ground was hard…probably stone, he had chills running up and down his body, his leg was still broken, and his entire torso was wet…he was lying in a puddle.

As his heart rate sped up, he became more aware that there was some warmth on his arm…a hand?

His eyes shot open and he gaped.

"L-lovino?"

His brother let out a sigh of relief and pulled him into a tight hug. "I was worried that you weren't going to wake up. You scared me, stupido."

Feliciano unsteadily returned the hug, still in disbelief that his brother was alive.

"Lovino, I thought I was never going to see you again!" Tears cascaded down his already wet cheeks. "I-I thought you were dead." He whispered, almost afraid that if he spoke the words aloud, his brother would disappear from his grasp. Something he never wanted to happen again.

"You dumbass. Why would you think I was dead?"

"They shot you! Y-you fell! Then they came after me, so I ran…I thought they were going to kill me too!"

Lovino let out a sarcastic laugh. "They don't want to kill us, Feliciano…they want to capture, contain and torture us. So far, they have done almost everything."

"Wh-why would th-they do that?" His tears turned into weeping. Feliciano really had no idea who they were or what they wanted, much to his brother's annoyance.

"I have no idea, Feliciano. They invaded our country, killed our civilians, and tried to kidnap me. You would have been perfectly safe if you hadn't been such a dumbass. Why couldn't you just run when I told you too? Huh? You wouldn't be here if you would have just listened to me!" Lovino broke down into tears causing Feliciano to gape at him. This was so not like Lovino.

"Don't cry Lovi…I'm sorry." Lovino didn't seem to hear him and instead continued to cry and complain in Italian. Feliciano became worried for his brother's sanity.

"Fratello?"

He jumped when Lovino's hand came crashing into Feliciano's face, covering his mouth.

"Don't…ever…say…that again. That word is what got us both into this mess in the first place."

"What are you talking about?"

Lovino sighed. "They were convinced that there were two nations for Italy that they had to find and capture. They knew who they were looking for, so when they found me, they immediately knew. They asked where you were, I told them there was no other and that it was America who had two. It worked…until you came up and yelled 'fratello'…then they realized that they had been right all along and that there really were two of us. Then they shot me…I saw you run and hoped you escaped their clutches…but I woke up and saw you lying there. I was so scared."

"Don't worry Lovino…we're together now. They can't do anything as long as we stay together."

"You dream a large dream, Feli."

"Ludwig tells me similar things."

"Humph…I may hate that potato bastard…but I hope he gets his ass over here and rescues us soon."

"And Toni! Then we can all leave here together!" Feliciano smiled through the tears. Leaving this dungeon with his fratello, both arm in arm with their loves…it brought hope and joy to the miserable Italian.

They sat in silence; Lovino cradling his brother. The harsh sobs had turned into peaceful breaths signaling that Feliciano had finally drifted off to sleep. Lovino sighed and looked down at his sleeping little brother.

"Feli?"

No response.

Lovino smiled. "Feli, I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you from this. I'm sorry that you had to suffer through our country's destruction. I'm sorry that you can't be at home…cooking pasta for Ludwig. I'm sorry that I didn't warn you about these people. But, don't worry. I'm going to make this right. I will protect you and take care of you and together we will make it through this. ti vogilo bene, fratello, e ti proteggerà."

Lovino leaned forward and kissed his brother's cold forehead, then leaned against the wall behind him and drifted into a fitful sleep…

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><p><em>Lovino threw the front door open. He needed to find his brother and get him out before <em>they_ came. The delicious smell of pasta filled his nostrils telling him that his noodle-brained brother was in the kitchen. Sure enough as he turned the corner, a pot was on the stove, but no brother._

"_Feliciano?"_

"_L-lo-lovino?" Dammit! Lovino ran into the kitchen and found his brother on his knees, gripping his bleeding arm. "What's happeneing?"_

"_We're under attack." Feliciano gaped at him. "Wh-what?"_

"_Feli, just listen to me, I have a pistol in the first drawer in nightstand on my side of the bed. It's from my mafia days. Go get it."_

_Feliciano just stared at him. "Please, fratello, just do me this favor and get the gun. I need to stay down here and look out for the army in case they come this way." Feliciano slowly nodded and left for the stairs without any arguing. _

_Lovino let out a sigh of relief. He walked over to the boiling pot of pasta and turned the stove off. Reaching down, he lifted his shirt and adjusted the gun that was in his pants to make it less noticeable, then headed for the stairs._

_He slowly and quietly headed for their shared room. Peering in, he saw his younger sibling searching in vain for the gun that wasn't there. A tear escaped from his eye. He caught it and wiped it away furiously. This needed to be done…there was no other way._

_Almost sensing that Lovino was there, Feliciano turned and faced his brother. "Lovino? What are you doing?"_

"_I'm…I'm sorry, fratello. I have to do this…for you." Before Feliciano could respond, Lovino grabbed the door and slammed it shut. He then locked it and shoved a chair under the handle, fully containing his brother inside._

"_LOVINO! STOP! LET ME OUT!" Feliciano was beating on the door, trying to escape._

"_I'm sorry…little Feli. I'm so sorry. You'll thank me later if this happens like I hope it will…" he whispered before turning and running down the stairs to the armory. He needed weapons…_

_A hand came out of nowhere and grabbed his right arm. Lovino was jerked back the same time a large cut ripped its way across his right shoulder due to some city being attacked. Lovino didn't even have time to figure out which one. He groaned in pain and fell to his knees. The man that grabbed him pressed a knife under his chin._

"_You will come with us without a struggle or we will use force and burn this country to the ground."_

_Was this man really speaking Italian? What the fuck was this? Clearly it was not his native language due to the accent that he had, but it sure as hell made it fucking impossible for Lovino to tell his nationality. _

"_Fuck you!" He spat at the man who then backhanded him in response. A handful more came around the corner, guns pointing at the nation. They were all dressed in a black uniform that Lovino had never seen before. _

_The one kept his knife firmly pressed against his jugular while two others grabbed his arms and hauled him up. Dragging him through the house to the front lawn, he was met by another man…obviously a general._

"_Tell me, Italy, where is the other?" This was what Lovino had feared. _

"_I have no idea what you're talking about."_

_The general backhanded him. "Where is the other half of this nation? Your 'brother'? Where is he?" He smacked Lovino again and again._

_Lovino spit a mouthful of blood right onto the General's shoes. "There is no other, you stupid fuck! You have the wrong country! America is the one that has two representatives. It seems like you got the wrong information, jackass!" Why the hell had he said America? Jeez…improv…you never know what's going to come out of your least, Lovino figured, that this stupid ass wouldn't be dumb enough to invade America anyway…and if it kept Feliciano safe…plus, even if he looked this up, one look at Alfred and Mathew and he would assume they were American twins…especially since no one really gave a shit about Canada as a country anyway…_

_The General glared at him…then full on punched him in the mouth._

_Lovino's head spun._

"_Burn the house."_

_Lovino choked. "W-what? Wh-why? I'll come with you. I won't fight, I promise. Just don't-don't burn it! Please!"_

_The General looked at him and narrowed his eyes. "I know you will…this is just for fun. Besides…it's not like you're…hiding anything in there." He looked at the men who held the collapsing Lovino. "Take him to the truck…and don't forget the sedation. Oh! And I don't think…" he reached over and lifted Lovino's shirt, pulling out the gun. "…you'll be needing this anymore."_

_Lovino didn't fight as tears fell from his eyes. The house glowed red and orange as flames engulfed it. _Feliciano…no…

"_NO!"_

_He turned towards the voice…it couldn't be. But it was. Feliciano stood not ten feet away, staring at him._

"_RUN!" He screamed in English. The guards seemed shocked when he didn't speak Italian._

_Feliciano didn't move._

"_Run! Now, Feliciano! GO!" He tried switching back to Italian, hopefully getting his brother to snap out of his shock before they snapped out of theirs and caught him._

Why the hell wasn't he _running? _

"_Brother!"_

_Every single one of them froze. _NO! FELI! NO!_The General walked over to Lovino and shot him in the gut, smirking. The dart penetrated his skin and into his system instantly. His world blurred. Almost like through water, he head his little brother shout no and his name, but the world went black. The last thing he saw was Feliciano…his little brother…his fratello…turn and run…then…nothing…_

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><p><strong><em>So...any comments? Questions? (and no, i will not tell you anything about the ending...no hints.) ^.~ So, I really wanted to write this so I could have Lovino be the loving, caring older brother we all know him to be...so what if it is burried deep down under his skin. It's still there. OH! and btw, if you even liked this stupid story and are waiting for the second chapter, release the breath i know you were holding. I am working on chapter 2 as we speak...we'll that sounded stupid...espicially since WE are not ACTUALLY talking...i'm more writing to you...so...ya...odd-kwerd! Moving on...<em>**


	2. Your Cries in Vain

Ti Proteggerò ... Fratello

**Chapter 2: Your Cries in Vain**

"Oh mon Dieu!" Francis whispered as they stopped and stared in shock as the Vargas mansion was burning to the ground.

"ITALIEN!" Gilbert barely had time to register that Ludwig had broke from the group and was trying to run into the still raging inferno.

"WEST! NO!" Gilbert tackled his brother who fought to break free of him. "Suicide won't help anything!" Ludwig still struggled, cursing in Germany and crying for his Italian lover. Finally with one last cry, he slumped into Gilbert's arms and wept. Gilbert had no idea how to respond. Ludwig had never, in all their years, ever cried like this.

Over his brother's cries, he heard a loud wail as Antonio collapsed into France's arms. "No, no, no! Dios! We were too late! Lovi! Oh, Dios mio!"

"Hush, mon cher, Espange. Everything is going to be alright." Francis tried to calm the distraught nation, but he too had no real way to respond.

Arthur hadn't moved or spoken since they saw the ghastly sight. He looked from Ludwig to Antonio and opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and shut it.

Sirens wailed in the distance as the group of nations watched the mansion be eaten by the raging flames. No one moved or spoke aside from Ludwig, weeping in Gilbert's arms, and Antonio, wailing from France's supporting grasp. As the sirens seemed to grow louder, Arthur finally broke the silence.

"We need to leave before the police get here."

"Nein! I will not leave him!" the German cried shooting a murderously broken glare at the Brit.

"Ludwig…I'm sorry, but we can't be seen by the police. Think about it. A large group of foreigners standing outside the house of this country's representatives as is burns to the ground. We'll surely be arrested and questioned; which are two things we don't have time for."

Gilbert glared at Arthur. He was trying to think of a retort, but failed when he felt a shudder pass through the German in his arms. He looked back at his distraught little brother and felt…helpless. Arthur came over and placed a hand on Ludwig. "I promise that we will get to the bottom of this. I'm…I'm sure…he…he must of…I…" he stopped, feeling lost for words. Instead, the Brit walked over to Francis and helped him bring the miserable looking Spaniard to his feet and leaned him onto France's shoulder.

Gilbert lifted Ludwig up and draped his arm around himself.

Slowly they all began to turn away…except Ivan. Instead the Russian began walking _towards _the flames.

"Ivan, what the hell are you doing?" Gilbert screamed as Ivan passed him and Ludwig.

"I wish to end the questioning. We shall be meeting in France I am assuming, da? I shall meet up there." And he walked into the curtain of flames.

"What the fuck? Are you insane?" Gilbert automatically rolled his eyes. Of course Russia was insane. "Fine, dumbass!"

"Hurry up!"

Gilbert half dragged and half carried Ludwig, who was just weeping into his older siblings shoulder. Prussia didn't know what to think. He had never seen Germany act this way. All he could think of was to comfort him.

"Shhh, West. It's going to be ok. Don't worry. We'll find Feli. Everything is going to be fine."

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><p>Lovino woke with a start. It didn't take him long to remember where they were. He grimaced and glanced at his brother, who was still sleeping in his arms. He smiled down at him. At least Feliciano could still escape this place in his dreams.<p>

Where the hell were the other nations? Why the hell was that fucking potato bastard taking so _long_. Were they all so stupid that they couldn't get here _faster._ It wasn't like him or Feliciano were dead…

He choked. Shit! Their house…it was burning when they were taken. What if the other nations thought they were dead? Fuck! Then they would seek revenge…not a rescue. Which would mean they would take longer.

"DAMN IT!" He bit his tongue. Oops. He hadn't meant to say that out loud. His brother jerked, but didn't wake. Lovino relaxed. The longer Feliciano slept the more rest he would get and fewer tears he would shed.

His legs felt restless. He _very_ carefully undid his jacket and took it off, placing it under Feliciano's head like a pillow. He stood and stretched all his sore muscles and began surveying their cell.

It was approximately eight by ten feet, entirely stone, except the metal door, had no windows and was wet. It was disgusting. There were puddles all over and water was freaking dripping from the ceiling…which had to be about 12 feet high.

Lovino scoffed. There was no dry place to sleep.

He turned towards the door as a metal opening flipped open and two bowls were slid into their cell. The mini door slammed shut and Lovino just stared at the bowls. Food?

He approached carefully…and groaned. The bowls were both half filled with this white, disgusting slop. It couldn't even be considered porridge for fear that the inventor would kick its ass for being fake.

His stomach rumbled. Well, at least it was food. He picked one of the bowls up, glanced at Feliciano, and poured most of its contents into the second bowl. If the younger nation asked…Lovino would tell him he had already scarfed his down.

Carrying the bowls back to his sleeping brother, he placed them back down and lightly shook Feli's arm.

"Feliciano…wake up."

Feliciano's eyes slowly opened and glazed over his surroundings. He blinked a couple times before realization smacked him in the face and tears welled up in his eyes.

"Lo-lovino?"

Lovino rolled his eyes. This was the very reason he hadn't wanted to disturb his brother. Though Feliciano could sometimes handle himself, he tended to live more in his own world and become easily upset when things didn't turn out right.

"Those bastards finally decided to feed us, che…"

Feliciano looked down at the bowls. "Why is yours so empty?"

The older nation scoffed. "Because I already started eating it, stupido." His northern half stared at him through narrowed eyes, but decided that his stomach rumbling was more important than arguing with his obviously lying brother. He reached for the bowl.

Time seemed to do the fucking Time Warp because all of a sudden Lovino himself slowed down but everything around him sped up.

He had decided that he would quickly swallow what little he left himself the same time Feli had reached for his bowl. Lovino, being more sparring and slow, placed the bowl to his lips and let a little of the slop into his mouth. Instantly, he gaged and hacked the crap back out. His mouth seared as the poisoned food burned into the skin. He hacked up blood and quickly turned to Feliciano, who had put the bowl to his mouth and began chugging.

The same time Lovino cried, "FELI! NO!", Feliciano had dropped the bowl and began coughing up blood from his burning mouth and throat.

"FUCK!"

He slid over to his choking brother and, with nothing else he could do, wrapped his arms around him, hoping to comfort him.

Feliciano's body spasmed in his older brother's arms. He whimpered and continued to spit up all the blood that was coming from his burned holes along his mouth and throat.

"L-l-lov-I" he tried to say through clenched, bloody teeth.

"Shh, don't talk, Feli. Don't talk. Just get all of it out and rest. Let your body heal."

"W-w-why?" His sobs were unbearable to listen to. Lovino shook his head. "Torture. Starve us, then tempt us with poisoned food…It's all a part of their mind games."

"Y-y-you lie-d, L-lovi."

"Que?"

"A-bout the f-f-f-ood…for me."

Lovino cleared his throat. "Why wouldn't I? You need it more than I do. You're too skinny, Feli."

They both managed a slight chuckle, but then fell into silence.

_God dammit! That was such a low class, scumbag thing to do. Bastardos! They are going to pay for what they attempted to do to us! Damn, why is it that every time I try to help my brother, my other half, it always blows up in my face. This will never happen again. For as long as I live, I will protect my family. My brother. These bastards are going to pay dearly…if it's the last thing I ever do…_

They sat in the back right hand corner, Feliciano curled into Lovino's lap, when the door opened and a handful of soldiers walked in. A shudder of fear passed through Feliciano's body and Lovino tensed. He lifted his head and glared daggers at the ass-hat general. In response, the general tilted his head to the side and smiled.

"Let's start with that one. We'll see if we can wipe the vanity out of him." Two guards grabbed Feliciano, yanked him out of Lovino's lap and tossed him onto the floor. This did not bode well for them for, though Feliciano was weak, he still had enough strength to match an average human.

"No!" Feliciano jumped up and ran towards Lovino. The two guards grabbed his arms the same time to others grabbed Lovino. They both fought their captors, trying desperately to reach for each other. It was a tough fight that the humans had not prepared for. They assumed that the nations were weakened, thus easy to transport. They were wrong. More guards had to be called in to restrain the Italians.

Finally fed up with the tiff, the general approached Feliciano and smacked his head with the butt of his gun. Feliciano's limp form fell from the soldiers hands to the ground in a heap.

Lovino screamed every curse words he knew in Italian, Spanish and English at the general. He was unaffected by the nation's coarse words and punched him in the face before placing his gun against Feliciano's head.

"Italy, if you don't cooperate this instant, I will blow your 'brother's' fucking head off right now in front of you." Lovino bit his tongue and continued to glare at him. The general smiled. "This…is going to be fun."

The table he was strapped to was freezing and blood stained. Lovino wondered who else had been placed there before him…shedding their life's essence…staining the hard stone red.

The general was standing over him, his lackeys flagged around him, grinning down at Lovino.

"Now, we will begin with the simplest…have you ever heard of a thumbscrew?" Lovino didn't answer and instead looked away from him. "No? Well then, allow me to demonstrate."

The general picked up what looked like a mini vice with two holes and longer prongs extending down, and placed two of Lovino's fingers in the holes. Immediately, the general began twisting a prong on the back and Lovino whimpered as his fingers were crushed. The general did this to all five of his right fingers before moving on to the next device: a whip.

Lovino's skin ripped and tore each time the leather connected with his torso. Every hit caused him to whimper and yelp, but no full scream was torn from his lips. The general was displeased…and Lovino knew it.

"You know…how fucked you are…right?" He gasped.

The general looked at him. "How so?"

Lovino managed a hard laugh. "When…the other…n-nations find us…you are in for a sh-shit load of pain. We don't take kindly to humans…torturing us."

"Yet you torture each other all the time. Look back to all the World Wars…didn't you all hunt and fight each other back then? How is this different?"

"You…aren't…a nation…and you…will die…bef-before me…"

The general whipped his check, causing a deep bone showing gap. Tears filled Lovino's eyes as his cheek stung from the whips contact.

"Perhaps I've been too soft. Let's see how you fair with fire and electrocution…then maybe I'll carve you up and see how long it takes to heal."

Feliciano cowered in the back right corner with his legs wrapped tightly into his chest. He rocked back and forth, trying to comfort himself. His head pounded from the headshot he had received earlier when they forcefully took Lovino. He had woken up alone and thus began his panic attack.

"Lovi…Lovi…Lovi…Lovi…" He repeated his brother's name over and over, hoping that he could magically appear before him and they could escape together. He couldn't be with Ludwig…and now Lovino had been taken away from him too. Tears flowed freely…there was nothing he could have done even if he wanted to stop them…

"Alright…I'll make a deal with you, Italy. If you can stand anymore of this, then you'll be taking time off the other's torture bracket. Does that seem fair?"

The whip had ripped almost all the skin on nation's torso off, making Lovino's eyes glaze over from blood loss. This man was now curious to see just how far Lovino was willing to go. Just the thought of Feliciano being whipped so severely made Lovino shudder. If prolonged torture meant that his brother would be safe, then he would do it. Lovino nodded gruffly and another electrical current passed up in right leg. He let out a yelp…still trying not to scream for this assholes benefit. The general smiled and pet his head. "Good boy." As he moved his hand, he accidently brushed Lovino's curl, who sucked in air and whimpered in response. The general blinked at him and looked over to the one in charge of the current, who shrugged.

This roused the general's interest. "Well, now…what do we have here?" He flicked the curl again, causing Lovino to gasp.

"S-stop!"

"Now, now, Italy. Stopping now would mean your 'brother' would get to spend more time with me. Are you sure you want to stop?" Lovino closed his eyes tightly and shook his head, leaving him to the mercy of the general, who flicked his curl again. A shudder passed through Lovino and the general smiled. "I see we have hit a…shall we say, a 'soft' spot."

He continued to flick and pull on Lovino's curl, fascinated at the responses he was receiving. When Lovino finally moaned, he bit his tongue and squeezed his eyes shut. The general chuckled. The sound of his footsteps walking a couple feet away and returning made Lovino nervous as to what he grabbed. The sound of snipping made his eyes fly open in horror as the general made towards the curl…

"NO!"

Feliciano had heard Lovino's cry all the way in his cell. This made him fearful and more panicky then he already was. Minutes passed and Feliciano rocked himself praying to God that they both made it out alive and that he hoped help would soon come for them.

After hours, the door to their cell finally opened. Feliciano uncurled himself and slowly got to his feet as the soldiers dragged Lovino's limp body into the cell where they dropped him.

"Lovino!" He ran over to his brother's beaten form and hugged him tightly. He surveyed the damage and his heart jumped into his throat when he saw that his brother's curl was gone. His body was bloodied, purple and welted. "Oh, Lovino! What did they do to you?"

"The same thing that will happen to you…unless you behave." Feliciano glared at the man who had spoken…the same man who had shot his brother and ordered his capture.

"Bastardo!" He made to lunge at the man, but Lovino suddenly, and weakly, placed his hand on Feliciano's arm. "Don't, Feli. It's not going to help anything." Feliciano stared, horrified at his brother. He made to retort, but hands grabbed him and dragged him out of the cell. He didn't struggle.

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><p><em>So...this is a very interesting story to write. I feel so bad torturing the poor Italys...but what's done is done...and there's more to go! ^.~ REVIEW!<em>


	3. Where Are You? I Need You

_Sorry for the REALLY late update...i haven't really had much inspiration. which is saying something because i have this whole story planned out already...i just...seem to fail at actually describing it in words good enough for you to read. (see, so the late update is for YOU! Don't hate me...) Here we go...no torture, but what happened to Feli is mentioned...his actual flashback will be in a later chapter...maybe the next one? Anywho...enjoy..._

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><p><strong>Chapter 3:<strong>

The tension was so thick it could have been cut with a knife. Alfred had finally managed to get to France and was busy throwing his ideas around…much to everyone's displeasure.

"I still think that we should just go door to door looking for terrorists…" he pouted his lips and crossed his arms looking like a small child throwing a tantrum. Arthur didn't fall for it. One of the Brit's many talents being that he was the one who raised the American and dealt with this all the time.

"Alfred, going door to door would take way too much time. We need an actual plan, not some stupid, half thought out idea."

"My ideas aren't stupid, Stupid!" the Englishman rolled his eyes. "Is that the best insult you can come up with? And actually, yes, all your ideas are preposterous."

"No they aren't! I spend a lot of time on my ideas! My plans are foolproof!" he said adding his usual smile and thumbs up. Arthur shook his head.

"Yes, being that you're the fool!"

"Excuse me, you prissy, tea drinking asswipe!"

"Dumb brute! You are so full of shit and you bloody well know it!" Both were bright red in anger, glaring daggers at each other.

"At least we actually have good food!"

"That has absolutely nothing to do with this, Git! Stay on topic! We need a plan."

"We have a plan!"

"A plan other than anything you can come up with!"

Ludwig tuned them out and stared blankly at the floor. He hadn't slept at all the night before. He wasn't even sure he could if he tried. Mainly he had just sat at his desk, staring at the paperwork all night; tears randomly deciding to fall down his cheek. Gilbert would check on him every hour or so to make sure that one, he was still there and not doing something rash…like running away to find Feliciano or trying to commit suicide, and two, because he felt horrible. Ludwig knew that his brother wanted him to cheer up and…well, do anything other than weep and stare off into space. So, randomly during the night, he or Gilbird would walk/fly into his room and rest a hand/land on his shoulder.

His head pounded from his lack of sleep…this pointless arguing was not helping. His anger was slowly rising. Gilbert sat next to him, staring at the two bickering nations with a hint of annoyance on his face. Surely one of them was going to explode…the question was which one would snap first.

On his other side sat Antonio. He too wore a blank expression and stared at his hands in his lap. Francis had his arm wrapped around the nation and was looking upon the argument with displeasure. Yao and Kiku sat on the other side of Gilbert; they weren't even listening. Yao seemed to be thinking while Kiku was looking at the papers he had sprawled out in front of him. The three Baltic States were there too, watching the fight with mild interest. Canada couldn't make it and Ivan still hadn't returned. Belarus and Ukraine seemed uneasy by this fact and kept alternating glances between the clock and the door. Elizaveta and Roderich kept an interest in the conversation, but didn't seem keen on entering the confrontation.

_Gott, please watch over Italy. Please keep Feliciano and Lovino alive…_

"You people seem to think that I'm selfish, but at least I'm _thinking_ of a plan! What are you doing? Asking? It's not going to get us anywhere!"

"No shit! It would be nice if others added their input to this bloody conversation!"

Arthur glared around the room at the nations. No one met his eyes. None of the countries could think of any way to find the Italies…most figured that they perished in the fire that engulfed their house. Things like this just didn't happen…not to them. Not to the nations.

"How is it that you are so sure that they are even alive?" Turkey questioned a hint of annoyance in his eyes. "You said it and we've all seen it on the television. Their house is gone! What if they didn't escape and were caught in the flames?"

"We know they're still alive because _Italy is still alive!"_ Britain snapped back.

"How can you say that? Have you been in the cities? Have you seen the devastation? Italy is in _ruins! _More disasters befall the country _every day!_ How can you say they are alive when their nation is _dying?_"

"It's _recovering!_ The army that moved through the country created a lot of damage! This put Italy and Romano at a disadvantage! Clearly they are still hurting and this is causing their country to hurt! What's happening in Italy does not automatically mean the worst!"

"So you say!" Turkey barked. "I want proof that they are alive before we all plan a rescue that could all be in vain!"

This had been the breaking point. Ludwig slammed his fists into the table, causing two huge dents. The same time Ludwig moved, Gilbert stood up so violently that his chair flipped backwards and slammed into the floor.

"What the fuck! _Mein Gott! _We don't have time for this bullshit! While you all argue, those boys could be suffering from the hands of these bastards! Or they could be…" Gilbert couldn't will himself to say the words. "…in either case, we don't have time to fucking argue over bullshit! We are losing time to catch the bastards that did this and get revenge for the attacks on Italy!"

Turkey stared at him, an equal rage filling his eyes. "And then what, Prussia? We aren't even close to figuring out who they fucking are, much less _finding_ them! How do you expect we accomplish what you ask? We _have no information_!"

"I believe we do, da?"

No one had heard the door open or seen the Russian enter the room…with two unconscious bodies draped on his shoulders. Having gotten everyone's attention, Ivan smiled and approached the table, randomly throwing the bodies onto the table.

"Ivan!" Both Belarus and Ukraine jumped from their seats and ran to their brother, embracing him. Ivan just smiled.

Ludwig looked at him. His clothes were the same that they had left him in, only burnt and…bloody?

"Mein Gott! What the hell happened to you?" Gilbert was the first to recover from the shock.

Ivan just cocked his head to the side and looked around the room. "Ok, first I would be liking to announce that the Italies are indeed alive." Gasps filled the room from the nations that had doubted their escape from the burning mansion.

"A-and how do you know this?" Turkey asked quietly. He seemed to have shrunk during the time Russia had entered the room and proved him wrong.

Ivan chuckled. "There were no bodies in the house. Also, there seemed to be a broken branch in the tree beneath the second floor balcony. It was freshly broken." He looked to Ludwig. "That was their bedroom, da?" Ludwig nodded.

"And that was your proof?" Alfred asked uncertainly. No one knew the extent of the Russian's abilities to…_know _things.

"Well, there was the chair that was shoved under the handle, keeping anything in the bedroom contained. So, I figure that at least one of the brothers was locked into the room. He would then have climbed down to escape by the tree."

The whole room stared at him dumbfounded. One of the unconscious men from the table moaned slightly. Ivan directed his gaze towards them. "Then there is also being these two whom I caught in the back of the house loading an armored car with Italian guns…from the Italy's armory. I brought them for questioning, da?" He turned to towards Belarus, smile still adorned in his face and gave her a command in Russian. She nodded, smiled evily and left the room. She returned with rope and…a briefcase.

"Now we shall tie them up and question the Italians whereabouts, da? I shall begin now."

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><p>A feeling of loss passed through him, but not for the first time. He'd lost track of time being in the windowless cell and no one had come to bother them since their first round of torture….how long ago had that been? A few days? A week? More? Lovino had no idea. All he knew was that it had been days, at <em>least<em>, since they had brought Feliciano back to him….horribly burned.

He had thrown a tantrum and screamed at the general after seeing the condition his brother had been returned in.

_He bit his tongue so much that it bled. Feliciano's screams reached his ears making him wish that he could have survived more of the torture. After his curl had been cut, he just…hadn't been able to stand it anymore._ Dammit! Why am I so weak?_ He felt his heart squeeze. His brother should not have to suffer for his stupidity. _

_Silence._

_Minutes later, footsteps were heard outside the cell door. He braced himself for what he knew would be the horrid condition of his northern half. Two guards entered, dragging an unconscious Feliciano. They only came in halfway before tossing his frail body at Lovino. The nation's body fell against Lovino's, knocking them both backwards. Lovino yelped as his head collided with the hard, stone walls. His vision swam momentarily before he blinked away his dizziness and lightly moved his brother and checked him over. He bit his lip at the sight of his mangled brother._

_Feliciano was still alive, but his pulse was weak. His entire body was covered in blisters and burns. His curl was also gone…burned off. All his clothes seemed to be wet, from putting the flames out, and even in sleep, his body twitched and shuddered. Lovino growled._

_The guards laughed as their boss walked in. Lovino's eyes met his with fury._

"_You bastard! You said you weren't going to hurt him!" The Italian had tried to stand, but found he was too weak and slid to his knees._

"_Silly, boy. I never said such a thing."_

"_You said you wouldn't if I stayed longer!" he snarled._

_The general nodded. "I said that I would not spend as much time on him if you allowed me to…experiment on you more. And you did a wonderful job. I wasn't expecting you to last that long, but you proved me wrong."_

"_You had him for HOURS!"_

"_True, I did-"_

"_YOU FUCKING LIAR!"_

"_Ah, ah. Calm down. I wasn't going to spend as much time, but…he just…reacted so well to it that I guess I got a little carried away…"_

"'_Carried away'? You got fucking 'carried away'? You fucking burnt my brother to a fucking inch of his life! You mother fucker! I swear to God that I am going to fucking kill you! I'm gonna put a mother fucking bullet into you fucking brain! You are going to _wish_ that you had picked a different fucking country to invade! I swear-"_

_His head met the stone again and he blacked out to the laughter of the solders._

He shuddered at the thought and glanced at Feliciano. His brother was propped against the wall; his eyes glazed over as he stared the opposite corner. Since that day, they had both begun to heal quickly, thanks to their connection to the equally healing land of Italy, but it didn't mean anything. They seriously needed medical attention. Most of Feliciano's burns had already become nothing more than bad sunburns, but there were a few that seemed to be turning black from infection. His leg had healed wrong and needed to re-broken so it could heal properly and he seemed to always be cold and shaky…which wasn't a good sign.

Lovino's own body was having issues healing. The tears all along his torso, both front and back, were healing, but the organs underneath seemed to have other ideas. His crushed hand seemed to have only partially healed and what did was wrong. It would also need to be re-broken.

The door opened and a guard entered with two glasses of water. Neither Italian moved until the guard left. Lovino crawled over to the water and tested it. A quick taste told him that there was nothing wrong.

"Feli, water."

Feliciano didn't move or react in anyway.

"Feli?"

Nothing.

Lovino looked over at his brother. Feliciano continued to stare off into space; completely unaware of his surroundings. Something in Lovino's mind screamed warning signs. This wasn't good. He carefully crawled over to his brother and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Feli?" Still no response. "Feliciano? Please say something…anything."

The northern nation blinked and slowly turned his head and looked directly at Lovino's eyes. His brows furrowed and he lightly cocked his head to the side almost as if he couldn't understand what he was seeing.

"Feli?"

He just stared at him.

"Feliciano, quite staring at me like that."

Still nothing. Lovino glowered, angry that his brother was acting like an idiot. "Veneziano." Finally…a response.

Feliciano gasped and his eyes grew big. Tears pulled at the corners of his eyes as his eyes darted around the room in horror. "Wha-wha-" His eyes met Lovino's. Without warning, Feliciano flung himself at Lovino and pulled him into a tight hug with what little strength he possessed.

"Lovino! Make it go away! Make it go away!"

His anger at Feli suddenly dissipated. Lovino shut his eyes, hoping to quench the tears pooling behind his own eyes. He couldn't break down. He needed to be strong for his brother. "Shh, it's ok. It's ok Feli. Shh. There, there." He rubbed Feliciano's back as lightly as he could without irritating his burns while he broke down in his arms.

_We need to get out of here before we lose what little sanity we have left…_

_Antonio…where are you? I need you…_

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><p><em>AWW! I love Lovi's little "I love Spain" at the end...i figured that it would get you all "AWW! HURRY AND FIND THEM, TONI AND LUDDY!" So...comments? Please Review! (I know you will, but just to make sure, i guess now would be a good time to mention that i am VERY good friends with Russia...well, my friend is Russia (she has the touch of DEATH! It's TRUE! Just ask my BFF Scarlet Hanson...(she's in my fav authors if your wondering) and she will agree! Russia (aka Lindsey) is INSANE! SHe has the touch of death and can be VERY sadistic!) and if i ask, Russia will find you! Mwa ha ha!) not relaly. i wouldn't do that to you ^.~ Cuz i need you all to be my mindless slaves and favorite me and my stories while continously praising me! JK...again...maybe...anywho, just review! Next chapter will be up soon...hopfully...<em>


	4. Our Truth

_Thanks everyone for the lovley reviews...it's nce to know i am getting the exact reactions that i was hoping for! (ya...i know...im evil...but i love it SOOOO much! it makes me feel so...sad and helpess writing the brothers in such a horrible state...) This chapter cam REALLLY quickly because after i posted chapter 3, i was all "OK~! Done for today" and closed windows...then, about an hour later, i was all **"INSPIRATION!"** so i started writing again...then at midnight i was all "sleeeppppyyyy" so, i logged off with all of 4 done. Yesterday i was busy so today re-read it and was all "PERFECT!" So...here it is..._

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: Our Truth<strong>

"Feli, water."

He couldn't move. He couldn't look Lovino in the eyes without breaking down…again. This was too much. It was all too much. He needed this. This moment of pure insanity. This one moment where his mind left this world and its pains behind in favor of his carefree imagination. Feliciano knew that it scared him when he zoned off into space, but…he just couldn't face anything this horrible world had to offer.

His arm hurt. The third degree burns he received were not healing. Lovino feared infection, but Feliciano just couldn't think about it.

_The flames, flickering red and orange, licked at his skin, causing the skin to bubble in response as it melted off. His screams filling the room. The pain being too much to bear…_

Don't think about it! Don't think about it! But trying not to only forced his mind deeper into the memory.

"_This is such a better reaction! I was afraid that both of you would try to hide your pain from me, but you…you scream so well and we haven't even made it to the fun stuff yet! This was only a light beating."_

"_P-please…please s-stop." Feliciano pleaded; his eyes wet and bloodshot from his tears. The general smiled and backhanded him. Feliciano yelped. _

"_The only sounds I want to hear coming from your mouth are screams. Your quest to reason with me is futile."_

_Somewhere deep in his bond with his country, he felt Lovino's presence. He focused all his strength on his brother, trying to leave this horrible place. He knew Lovino felt his pain…even if it was more of a killer migraine compared to what pain was actually being caused, but it was still there. He had felt the same thing when Lovino had been taken. _Please…Lovino…

(Feli? Feliciano…please say something…anything.)

_His cheek bone stung as the general smacked him again. "Now, now, don't go wandering off. I need you here…with me." He punched him again. Blood trickled down Feliciano's chin. The general grabbed a handkerchief and gently wiped him clean; smiling the whole time. "Now…I'm curious. Your brother seemed to have a very…interesting piece on his body. I'm wondering…since you have one also…does it offer the same reaction?" Feliciano's eyes grew wide in fear as he realized _exactly_ what piece the man was talking about. It was the same piece that _everyone_ was curious about. _

_Too late to prepare for it, the general grabbed Feliciano's curl forcefully and yanked, causing Feliciano to gasp._

(Feli?)

"_Interesting…" He yanked again. A shudder passed through the Italian's body and his breathing staggered. He shut his eyes tightly and bit his tongue, trying to ignore the heat that was growing in his pants. "The exact same reaction…" he stared curiously at the nation before giving the curl one final tug and letting go. Feliciano couldn't help it and moaned. The general chuckled. "The _exact_ same reaction…now, I wonder how this will very then…"_

(Feliciano, quite staring at me like that.)

_That sound…like a rush of hot wind, the fire cackled and grabbed onto his hair, melting it off his head. Feliciano screamed…oh did he scream. He screamed and screamed until his voice was hoarse from yelling. Even then, the flame was moved to other parts of his body. Every nerve in his being became a live wire and protested the fire, but there was nothing he could do. Over his screams he could hear the laughter of the general…his torturer._

"Veneziano…"

"Wha-wha-" He hadn't realized that the voice in the back of his mind had been reality. Overcome with the intense emotions from his memory, he screamed and scrambled to get into the protective arms of his older brother. "Lovino! Make it stop! Make it Stop!"

"Shh, it's ok. It's ok Feli. Shh. There, there." Lovino attempted to comfort him, but Feliciano jumped at the sudden contact with his sensitive skin. "Ahh!"

"Damn! I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Feliciano buried his head into Lovino's shoulder. "Make it stop…make it stop…make it stop…please…Ludwig…please make it stop….please…Ludwig…make…it…"

_Lu-dwig…_

Blackness…

Lovino groaned. Great…now Feliciano had no idea who he was even talking to. Clearly something was wrong if he was calling him…_Lovino..._Germany. He continued to lightly comfort his now sleeping brother; holding him in his arms with his chin resting on Feli's head. _Mother f-_

The door opened, drawing his attention to the soldiers that were gathered there. "What the fuck do you want now?"

They ignored him, but continued to stand there. Lovino rolled his eyes and tried to ignore them back. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with them today. He had enough to deal with and now he realized that his brother needed every ounce of his attention.

"You two seem to be healing a lot faster then I originally thought possible…even with your country in ruins…outstanding…" Lovino rolled his eyes, but didn't look at him. "Go the fuck away. If you're here to _observe_ or some shit, come back later when I'm asleep and don't have to listen to your incredibly fucked up voice."

The general chuckled. "I see you've improved. Your attitude is back…"

"Never left, dick head."

"Tsk…huh…I really thought that you would be the candidate I would use…but it seems that I really don't want to hear the truth from you. Your 'brother' on the other hand…"

Lovino's head shot up and he looked accusingly at the general. "What?"

The general looked back at him with mild interest. "I would like to speak to your 'brother'. Hand him over."

"Like hell I will!" He growled, tightening his grip. Feliciano shuddered in his sleep from the pain he received from Lovino tightening his grip, but it didn't' matter. They were NOT going to touch his little brother EVER again!

The man sighed. "This time I promise that I'm not going to hurt him. What I need him for is merely questioning, and believe me, he won't need to be punished."

"And why is that?"

"Because he's going to tell me everything I want to know."

Lovino stared at him in disbelieve. There was no way in hell that Feliciano would tell this bastard anything. "Fuck you!" he sighed again. "Always the hard way with you nations…" he nodded towards the guards who sprang into action.

One ran right up to Lovino and smacked him across his face with the butt of his gun while another grabbed Feli and tried dragging him away. This caused Feliciano to jerk awake, but he was so dizzy and delusional that he didn't register what was really happening. "N..o…" was all he could muster while Lovino screamed his brother's name and tried to get him back, but was only met with the cell door closing and locking, leaving him caged and screaming after his brother.

"Ahh!" He whimpered as they dragged him into a room and then threw him into a stiff chair. Tears leaked down his cheeks as they strapped his tender wrists and ankles tightly to the chair before leaving without a backwards glance. He gasped as the pain seared through his tender limbs; his breaths came in short gasps.

"Still not fully healed…but still faster then I calculated."

Feliciano shot daggers at him, but remained silent.

He smiled. "This is why I like you over your 'brother'. You know when to remain silent." The nation choked on a sob. The general frowned. "…but you do cry more…" he seemed to lose his train of thought. "Anyway, I've had you brought here today because I have some questions that I want you to answer me…and you will, so don't get any ideas."

What? Why would Feliciano do that? Even all through his…burning…he didn't utter a single word that he would oblige. What was this guy thinking?

The door opened and a soldier entered with a try…Feliciano gulped…it had a needle and vile on it. His heart began to race. The soldier approached them and placed the tray on a small table that was near Feliciano's chair. The man then stuck the needle onto the vile, looked toward the general for approval, he nodded, and then grabbed Feliciano's arm, stabbing the needle into his tender arm. "Ahh!" he whimpered.

Very quickly, the nation started to feel really…dizzy and incredibly…calm. His head lolled from side to side and he tried to focus, but really couldn't.

"Tell me, Italy…have you even heard of a drug called SP-117?"

Feliciano casually flung his head around and faced the general. He shook his head. "Nope." Oh, God…he felt really…good.

"I figured you wouldn't have, but I thought I would ask. SP-117 was created by the Russian's KGB…it's a drug that…'loosens one's tongue'. In simpler terms…it's a truth serum."

Feliciano couldn't help but giggle. Serum…that was a funny word.

"Indeed…" Had he said that out loud? The general was looking him over; amusement all over his face.

"What is your name?"

"Feliciano Vargas."

"And that is your…human alias?"

"Um…I guess you could say that. It just sounds funny." He giggled. Wow…he felt reeaaaallllly loopy. "I _am _Feliciano as a human, but I'm also Italy as a country. Yep, Italy Veneziano. The Northern Half of the Repubblica Italiana."

"Huh…interesting. So, are you or are you not in fact human?"

He thought. "Um…we…are…countries. We're connected to the land and the land to us, but we _feel _things like humans do. We eat, sleep, get sick…all of that. We just heal faster and live longer~"

"And you're all like that?"

"Yep~!" the 'p' made a pop sound.

"Why does Italy have two of you?" he inquired.

That was a really good question. "Um…" He'd never thought about it. They'd wondered sure…but no one really knew. "I don't know. Maybe because we were separated when we were younger?" He shrugged. "By the time we unified…we were two _completely _different people. I don't really understand Lovino a lot of the time…he's…he's…_weird."_

"Lovino…is your 'brother'"

"Vee~! Yep! Lovino Vargas…aka Italy Romano. The southern half of Italy."

"What does the 'Veneziano' and 'Romano' mean? Are they just names used to separate you both?"

"Weeeeeeeell, I have Venice, so 'Veneziano' distinguishes me as the northern half who has Venice in it…and Lovino has Rome…so…ya. I really don't understand it. Grandpa Rome didn't really understand it either-"

"Who?"

"Huh? Oh, Grandpa Rome. He was the Great Roman Empire…he died."

"How?"

"He just…faded away one day. It happens when a country dies and its culture is lost and replaced by something new. That's why Gilbert's still around. Because Prussia didn't _really_ die…it just became Germany more…I think…You know…I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to this. I prefer to just eat pasta and spend my times with Ludwig. I love him you know. He's my German lover. I miss him…I hope I get to see him soon…" Feliciano began to space off, leaving the general slightly agitated.

"Italy…I have more questions for you."

"Oh~! Ok~!"

"How are you born?"

"We just appear one day when our land becomes populated and a culture arrives. We grow with our country you know! America…you should meet America! He's so strong! He can bench press a semi-truck! Wait…maybe you shouldn't meet him. He would probably kill you on site because you kidnapped me and Lovino-" His eyes widened. "Why am I talking to you? You tortured me! And you hurt Lovino! I really don't like you…I really want my Luddy…"

"Do you think he will come and save you?"

Warnings went off in Feliciano's head. He really shouldn't tell this man anything about the other countries…but…"I hope so…I miss him a lot. Him and Gilbert and Roderich and Elizaveta and America and England and big brother France and who knows who else will come! I really want to see them all again." He started to feel really sleepy. "I feel…really….really…" his head lolled back and he stared at the ceiling; his mouth agape. "..really…sleepy."

The general cleared his throat. "Ahh, yes. Perhaps we will finish this conversation another time." He turned his attention to the guard. "Take him back to the other one. You should be able to handle him alone." The guard nodded and undid Italy's bindings.

Lovino was fuming! They were probably hurting his baby brother and there was nothing he could do about it. God it pissed him off. He felt the bond, but it felt…weird. Like something was intervening.

The door opened and the guard brought in what looked like a really hung-over Feliciano.

"What the fuck?"

"Lovi~! Hi, Lovi~!" the younger nation stumbled into the cell and landed into Lovino's awaiting arms as the door shut and locked. "What the fuck did they do to you?"

"OH~! They gave me this stuff called…um…truth serum…heehee~! 'Serum'~! What a funny word…"

"They did what?" Lovino was outraged.

"Ya~! I fell really…weird…and sleepy." At least he wasn't in pain…or acting insane anymore.

"Feli…what did you tell him?"

Feli looked at him; his face purely innocent. "Um…he asked my name, your name, about us as Italy, Grandpa Rome, how we're made…um…if we're human…ya, that's about all before I started getting _really_ sleepy. Can I sleep now?"

"No you can't fucking sleep! Tell me everything!"

""You don't have to shout…" His face turned into a pout. "I answered his questions about us."

He fell silent and Lovino groaned. Feliciano was acting _drunk! _Clearly, he wasn't going to get anything out of him tonight.

"Hey, Lovi?"

"What?" he snapped.

"Wanna know what they did to me?"

Lovino froze. Did he want to know?

"They beat me…and then he burned my curl off…then he burned my body leaving the flames going until he felt it was ok to drench me with ice water. I was so scared. It hurt so much." Lovino didn't know what to say. He looked over at his brother, who passed out against the wall. He sighed. No…he hadn't wanted to know what happened. It hurt too much to know…

"Lovi?"

"I thought you fell asleep…close your eyes Feli."

"No…Lovi…did…did you make a deal with him?"

Lovino bit his lip. "Yes."

"Why?"

"He said he wouldn't spend as much time torturing you if he could torture me longer…he lied…I thought he would…go easy on you because he didn't have as much time to 'experiment'…but instead he hurt you worse than he had even tried to do to me. How…how did you find out?"

"Wh-when they started beating me, they told me they li-iked how I screamed because y-you didn't. Then when they brought me back, I wa-was half awake and heard you arguing with them."

"Oh."

Silence.

"I love you, Lovi~"

"I love you also, Feli. Now go to bed before you pass out."

"Ok~!"

_Dammit, Toni! The longer you take…the more I fear for our secrets…this man…he knows way too much…GOD! WHY ARE YOU TAKING SO LONG? I NEED YOU TONI!_

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><p><em>Ya...fail ending. I wasn't sure how i wanted to end it so i decided more weak Lovi calling for his Spanish lover~! Hope you enjoyed and i made some of your wishes come true with the torture of Fei...<em>

_Next chapter will have some lovley Russia being all "IMMA BEAT YOU EVIL BASTARDS WITH MY PIPE, da?" YAY! ^.~_


	5. Last Resort

_So last chapter was sad. this one is EPIC! Ivan does some awesome interrogating!_

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><p>"You will tell me what I need to know, da?"<p>

"We ain't telling you shit!"

Ivan cocked his head to the side. English now…these men were very knowledgeable with languages. No matter what they spoke in, their accents were almost so natural…almost. It was very difficult to place their country of origin…this angered the Russian very much.

Having tied them up in the conference room that the nations were using, they decided to keep them there, especially since it was on the fourth floor and the hallway was heavily guarded. Of the two, one seemed more argumentative and rude then the other. He had light brown hair and blue eyes. Approximately 30-35 years old. The other had to have been no more than 25 in human years. He had black hair and green eyes.

He smiled down at them. "I shall come back later then, da? When you are more…talkative." He turned to leave.

"Коммунистическая сволочь!" the talkative one yelled.

Ivan chuckled; the one language that neither were very accurate with. Just before he shut the door he turned and looked at them. "Your Russian sucks, da?" Laughing at the startled looks he received, he shut the door and heard footsteps coming from his right side. He looked and saw Prussia, who stopped when he saw Russia standing there. The Prussian seemed nervous and swallowed hard. "So, Ivan, did you get anything yet?"

"Nyet. They are very solid and seem to language hop accessibly. It is…difficult for me to pin their country of origin. I have decided to take a break."

"Oh…ok then."

They stared at each other for a while in silence. Ivan looked him up and down, trying to understand his body language. "Is…there something you are needing, Prussia?"

"Huh? Oh…no…I was just hoping that…that we were closer to finding them…" He left it at that and began wandering his mind. Ivan blinked. Normally the nation was loud and annoying…he just seemed so…dead. Why did his fellow nations have to be so confusing?

"Well, I was going to the cafeteria, da. If you wish to join me, you may, comrade."

"I guess…"

They both turned and walked in silence. "How is your брат?"

"West? Gott…he's terrible. I know he's not sleeping and I keep waiting for him to do something reckless…Gott! The sooner these bastards talk, the sooner things can go back to normal."

Ivan glanced at him for his peripheral. So that is why he was acting this way. He was concerned for his younger brothers safety.

"They will talk." The Prussian seemed to momentarily shun away from the harsh and directness of his voice. They reached the cafeteria where Prussia immediately walked over to Germany. Ivan walked to the nearest table and sat down. He lightly placed his head into his hands and thought. These men were desperate to keep their secrets. They language hopped like crazy and they seemed to possess a knowledge that Ivan demanded to know. It was infuriating! How could humans possibly possess a secret that he, the Russian Federation, could not get? He groaned.

"Big brother…"

He groaned again, louder this time. "Not now Natalya." He sighed as the sound of a chair sliding next to him filled his ears.

"Ivan, what is wrong?" she asked in Russian.

"They are determined, foul, nationless _humans_! Yet they manage to undermine me again and again and _again_!" He screamed in his native tongue and slammed his fist into the table, causing it to crack and buckle under his strength. "How am I to find them if these humans won't cooperate?" He looked over to his sister, who was completely unphased by his sudden outburst of anger. She looked at him with the usual blank expression she always wore.

"You have threatened them with death, and yet they still undermine you?"

He didn't answer and instead glared into her eyes; his purple aura slithering out from his body like smoky tendrils reaching out for the kill. She still remained unphased. "Maybe you should just kill one of them."

His shock caused his aura to falter and snap back to his body and the pressure that had been building in the room from his brooding to dissipate. Suddenly the room could breathe. "What? Are you crazy, da? We need them to find the Italies."

She shook her head. "You need only one…"

His eyes fell to the floor in thought. She was right. He had been too distracted by trying to find his captured comrades to see the simple truth. Damn…these other nations were doing something to him. Life was so much simpler before he made friends with the other countries. He missed the days when all he needed to know was who was the next one he would be killing or torturing…

"Big Brother…"

"What?" He looked at to glare at her, but her eyes were trained on something behind him.

"Do you know who the young man is behind you?" He blinked at her question. How should he know who any of the humans are that traveled with them? Sure he knew his own trusted soldiers that flanked him and his sisters, but beyond that, he didn't care. Feeling a need to entertain her curiousness, he decided to reach out with his aura and sense those around him. The nations were the easiest to sense; they were like family to him (even if he didn't understand or agree with them most of the time). Their bodyguards were slightly tougher, but each human had a slight trace of the country they represented. Slightly cocking his head to the side and closing his eyes, he reached his aura out as far as he dared, without causing anyone to pass out from his sheer extensive power. He felt the guards surrounding the cafeteria, silently watching their charges. Like a gnat at the back of his mind, he felt the presence of a man that had a slight hint of American…but there was something off about it. Almost the same confusing aura as…the two…upstairs….

His eyes slowly opened and met hers; something was wrong. "Natalya…he-"

"Understands Russian." Her tone was shaky and he knew what he would find when he turned around. Sure enough, he whipped his head around and spotted the man inching his way towards the doors; eyes fixed on the Russian and Belarusian. Their eyes met. He turned to full on run the same time Ivan jumped out of his chair, knocking it over.

The spy had his gun out and started randomly shooting at the nations, who had all jumped to the ground before whipping their own guns out. He wasn't sure who exactly hit him…but he was alive. The winning bullet hit him right in his lung and he collapsed. Ivan walked over to the dying spy before him, Belarus right behind him and the others still trying to piece together what happened.

Not bothering to change from his native tongue he asked. "Who are you?"

The man laughed a bloody laugh. "Don't you already know?"

"Of course, I simply feel like giving a lying, cheat like yourself a chance to repent and come clean."

He laughed again. "Don't waste your pity on me, Fool! I've already done my job…so kill me. You'll never find them and once those guineas** are proven to be as worthless as they truly are, they will be disposed of…and then we'll come for one of you!" He tried to spit on Ivan, but it failed because he was too weak.

Ivan's patience was dwindling and this man was truly pissing him off. He calmly kneeled beside they dying traitor and sunk his fist into his face. Once. Twice. Three times. Four. Five.

"Brother."

He stopped; his smile slowly creeping back on his face. He knew what to do. Standing up he turned to leave and saw that the other countries had been watching and listening in horror. His smile widened. None of those present spoke much Russian, so they were clueless to what had just transpired between him, the spy and Belarus. Having an audience would be more fun…

He didn't say anything. He only smiled and allowed his aura to fill the room; the other nations becoming curious, but still frozen under the Russian's fierce, violet gaze. He strode from the room; an equally dangerous Natalya close behind him. After a moment of shock and fear, Gilbert moved to follow and ended up leading the other countries present, Ludwig, Alfred, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, Turkey, and Hungary, to the conference room.

Ivan approached the door and slammed it open, causing the humans to jump at his sudden presence. The nation's smile increased. He could already tell that his presence was making the ill. Natalya stayed behind a little, glaring profusely at the men, who shuddered at her gaze. The other nations entered, but Natalya stopped them from going too far. Nobody was going to disturb big brother's wonderful work.

Making sure to speak English for his audience he asked once again, "Where are the nations you took?"

"You think leaving for a moment will change anything?" Talkative asked.

"Where are they?"

"Fuck you!"

"Where are the Italians?"

"Gehe Schraube selbst!"

Ivan walked over to the table and slammed his fist through the wood.

"Where are they?"

"Va te faire foutre!"

He picked up a chair and brought it down to the floor with such force that it shattered on impact.

"Tell me!"

"Jamais!"

He stared Talkative directly in the eyes and approached slowly. Their faces were inches apart and the boy seemed shrink under the Russian's large demeanor. "You _will_ tell me, da? Or…" He gripped the man's hand and jerked it up, ripping right through the ropes. The man yelped. "…I will crush your hand and then kill you painfully. Now…" Ivan's grip tightened. "Where. Are. The. Italian. Nations?" The man shrieked as every bone in his hand began to snap and bend.

"I WILL NEVER TELL YOU!"

Ivan backhanded him.

"Um…Ivan, I don't think-"

Ivan put his other hand up, silencing Alfred. Talkative began to laugh. "You…*huff*…won't…*huff*…kill us. You _need_ us!" Ivan slightly cocked his head to the side. "Do I?" he whispered. Talkative stopped laughing and eyed Russia wearily. He laughed at the response. "Did you not hear the gunfire? We have caught the spy that was sent to 'protect' the nation America. He is, at this moment, tied up in a room much like this. He was squealing like a pig when I beat him and shot him. Now though, for the sake of self-preservation, he is attempting to make a deal with me. Information in turn for his life."

Alfred stared at the Russian in shock, much like the bad guys were. He noticed that all of the nations present also had a look of confusion on their faces…except Belarus. She knew his plan. Damn! Now he wished he remembered more Russian from the Cold War days…then he might have a better idea how to be the hero and help.

"So, as it seems, I have no longer for you, da?"

Ivan straightened his back and reached his hand into his coat. Talkative didn't know what hit him. His silent companion yelled as Talkative's blood splattered across his face. Ivan took his pipe and beat the man over the head again and again. Blood spewed everywhere, but the human wasn't dead yet…not by a long shot.

The other nations in the doorway watched in horror and Ivan beat the man senseless before driving his pipe through the man's leg. Talkative cried out in pain as Ivan shanked his leg over and over with is pipe. The silent man next to him cried out in horror at the sight before him.

"OK! OK! We will talk! Please! Stop-"

Ivan paused and stared at the silent one.

"Klootzak! Vertellen ze niet alles!"

"Jag skrev inte på för att bli torterad så här!"

"Usted juró que moriría primero!"

"Non ho mai pensato questo che sarebbe successo! Io sono italiano! Non lascerò il mio paese morire!" The boy looked up at Russia with pleading eyes. "Please…"

Ivan cocked his head to the side, "I told you I would win…" and then jabbed his pipe straight through Talkative's eye and out the other side of his head.

Leaving the body where it was, Ivan grabbed a chair and pulled it in front of the terrified young man.

"Now that we are all comfortable with the talking, you will tell us where our friends are, da? Or you shall meet the same fate as…" he eyed the corpse with great interest.

"OK! OK! Just…don't…hurt me." The boy swallowed.

"Where are the Italian brothers?"

The boy gulped and prepared to speak…

* * *

><p><em>Lilies; the perfume filled his nostrils. The sun heated his body. Everything felt so warm…so nice. He opened his eyes and looked at the pot of pasta in front of him.<em>

"_PASSTTAAA!" He pulled a fork out of his pocket and began inhaling it. Halfway through he took a break to breathe and realized that something was off. The pasta tasted…wrong. He looked into the pot to discover that it was filled with worms._

_He screamed and threw the pot away from him, trying his hardest to cough up everything he had just ingested. His body becoming tired of dry heaving, he collapsed and whimpered. His entire body began to spasm uncontrollably. Tears fell freely from the weak nation._

"_L-lud-wig…"_

_Pain shot through up his leg to his spinal cord. His screamed in pain as his convolutions increased._

"_Feliciano!"_

_He knew that voice…deep within himself, but he couldn't wake up. The pain was too much._

"_Wake up! Feliciano, wake up!"_

_He whimpered. The more his brother tried to wake him, the more his dream pulled him deeper. A sudden thought tugged at his conscience…he was going to die._

"_Feliciano! Feli, please wake up! Wake _up! Wake up, dammit!"

Feliciano's eyes shot open only to realize that his dream pains existed in real life and suddenly his stomach needed to empty. His twisted his head to the side and began heaving, trying desperately to relieve his stomach of food that didn't exist.

After what felt like hours of his stomach convulsing, he finally collapsed in Lovino's arms; too tired to speak or move, but in too much pain to actually sleep. Instead his eyes burned trying to release tears that had long since dried up. Lovino lightly rubbed his sick brother's back. He knew it was in vain, but it was the only thing he could do for his little brother.

"Jesus…Feli, are you ok now?"

The response he received was only a tiny whimper.

"Fuckin…Jesus. Can you move?"

A slight nod.

"Ok." Lovino carefully lifter Feliciano onto his knees. He then moved his body a little to his right and turned Feli's body so his back was against the wall. Then he slid his legs out from underneath him and laid them straight. Feliciano's head slid onto Lovino's shoulder after he, himself, got comfortable. He took a deep breath, held it for a moment and released it in one big puff of air. He figured now was the time to ask.

"Feli?"

"Humph?"

"What…what did you tell him…about us?"

"Wa?"

"When they took you and…injected you with that…stuff, what did he ask and what did you say?"

"…"

"Feli?"

"Idnowaurtalknbout."

He gaped at his little brother. "Are you fucking serious? You don't remember getting taken away? Getting injected with that truth stuff? Any of it?"

This time Feliciano looked at his brother and gaped. "Wha?" Lovino blinked. "I-I-" What did he remember? "I…was…taken…an…I…" Images of room flooded his consciousness, a hard chair, tightness in his wrists..."I can't remember!" He whimpered.

"Shh, it's ok, Feli. Jesus! Quite fucking crying all the time! God dammit! For once, show some fucking backbone! So you can't remember the fucking questions, big fucking whoop! They probably fucking planned it! Jesus fucking Christ! Calm the fuck down!"

His yelling only caused Feliciano to sob more. "P-p-please s-stop yelling at m-me! Y-you d-d-don't have to yell! I'm right here, Lovi! P-p-please-"Lovino groaned in frustration. His entire body convulsed with loathing. Grabbing the wall for support, he slowly stood up as best he could and limped over to where their most recent glasses of water sitting; untouched.

Feliciano looked up at his brother. "L-lovi? Wh-where are you going? Pl-please come back? Lovi? Lovi"

Lovino ignored him and grabbed at one of the glasses. In a rage of anger, he yelled and threw the glass at the wall. It shattered on impact. With another loud yell, he grabbed the second and threw that one also. Looking desperately for something else to break, he was a loose brick and leapt for it. He then began beating it off the floor screaming the whole time.

"YOU STUPID FUCKING BASTARDS! I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD IM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU IN YOUR FUCKING SLEEP! GOD! AHH! FUCK! DAMMIT! PIECE OF SHIT, BRICK! ERG!" As his energy began to dissipate, he slowed his hits down and lessened on the strength behind each impact. Feliciano watched in horror as his big, strong, brave brother broke down and cracked in front of him. "L-lovi?"

Lovino threw the brick away from him to the opposite corner of the cell and whimpered. He began halfheartedly beating the floor with his fists. "God dammit! Antonio! Where the fucking hell are you? God…please…I fucking need you! I love you goddammit! I…FUCKING…LOVE YOU!" he collapsed into a fit of tears, finally letting everything he'd held bottled inside out.

"L-lovi?" the sound made Lovino turn towards his shaking brother. He sighed. He needed better control over himself. "Lovi? Please…come…come…b-back…pl-please…come…"

"Feli…I'm sorry." Dammit! He should never have left his brother in to corner! He should never have lost it. He crawled back over and engulfed his hyperventilating brother into a caring hug. "I'm sorry that I left you. I'm sorry that I freaked out."

Feliciano sniffled. "Did you mean it?"

"What?"

"You love Antonio?"

"…with all my heart."

* * *

><p><em>ZAWW! So...Lovino finally cracked! And poor Feli can't stand being away from Lovino, even if he is only a couple feet away. This chapter was saddening. BUUUTTTTT! DONT WORRY! HELP IS COMMMMIIIINNNNGGG!<em>

_TRANSLATIONS:_

_Коммунистическая сволочь- fucking communist (russian)_

_брат-brother_

_Gehe Schraube selbst- go screw yourself (german)_

_Va te faire foutre- fuck off (french)_

_Jamais- never_

_"Klootzak! Vertellen ze niet alles!"- asshole! don't tell them anything! (Dutch)_

_"Jag skrev inte på för att bli torterad så här!"- i did not sign on to be torturedl like this! (Sweedish)_

_"Usted juró que moriría primero!"-You swore that you would die first! (Spanish)_

_"Non ho mai pensato questo che sarebbe successo! Io sono italiano! Non lascerò il mio paese morire!"- I never thought this would happen! I'm Italian! I will not let my country die!(Italian)_

_*****Guinea- it's an offensive slang term for Italians...much like the 'N' word for African Americans (i looked it up...sorry if i'm wrong...for any of the translations and stuff...don't blame me...blame google translater)_

_REVIEW!_


	6. Horror Business

_EVERYONE! CALM DOWN! I AM INDEED ALIVE! The story is still going. I'm just retarded like that. I have a diary that i write in...then forget about. I haven't written since November of 2010...so...please be paitent with me. If i EVER decided to end a story, i will make a note about it on my and add a chapter of me appoligizing and saying it's been scraped. Anywho, here is my excuse..._

_School ended on the 6th...or 7th...either way LOL~! And i haven't had much inspiration for writing. When i got out of school...last week *sigh* WHY MUST YOU MOVE SO SLOW, TIME? WHY? DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU ALL TO HECK! (Madagascar has randomly been playing in my head...idk why. Must watch) and my crazy sister, who is home from college, has been dragging me everywhere like a crazy person. It's all good though. I am back and ready to go. _

_Now...without furtheradue (spelling...nevermind. I really don't care...) here is chapter 6~!_

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 6: Horror Business<strong>_

The countries all came into the room and were seated and waiting. Licking his lips, he found a place on the carpet to stare at and began explaining.

"My name is Salvatore Rizzo and…I was born Italian."

Prussia chuckled sarcastically. "Funny, you sound very American." Ivan held up his hand, silencing him. "Please continue, comrade." Rizzo glanced at the Prussian warily before continuing.

"Yes…I…and my f-fellow comrades are…a lot like what you call 'sleeper agents'. Much like those of the Russian's before us, we were taken from our homes as children and trained in combat and language." He paused again, feeling the nerve wreaking vibes emanating off the countries before him. "We are taught the languages of every known nation to the degree of speaking like a native to make it harder to guess our true nationality. We are then trained in politics and militarily styles before we are sent to our country that we are meant to take until the time is right for the attack." He trailed off here and dared to glance at the nations. He wished he hadn't. Every one of them was glaring daggers into his skull.

"When you say 'country'…you do mean the government and the _land_ right?" Alfred asked, his blue eyes staring into the spy's green ones. Slowly, the human shook his head no, forcing an outcry from the other nations.

"Молчать!" Russia once again raised his hands and brought quiet to the chaos. "So, you and comrades were trained to kidnap countries, da?" Rizzo nodded. "Tell me, how is it that you would know about us? From your superior?" Another nod. Ivan thought to himself. This was bad. Worse than any event he could have thought of himself. He looked back to the Italian spy. "Tell me this then, da? Who is your superior? Ah, ah, ah…calm down. Please…" Rizzo looked like he was about to die. Ivan laughed. Only a true soldier would feel death was necessary to avoid breaking an oath to keep your superiors identities safe. "I do not need to know names…or nationalities….what I want, is to know…how you say…positions. Government, military, so on…"

Rizzo bit his lip and gulped. "Um…" As he dared to stare into the Russian's purple eyes…and then to the other various countries'…Rizzo began to realize just how scared of the nations he was. "Um…what…my superiors are…regular humans that…had…huge parts in the science fields and government of…multiple countries. We were taught of your existence and that much that happened to you affected the country itself…and vice versa. I was taught that you were all crude dictators that enjoyed the suffering of people…and each other. That you enjoyed wielding you power and all wished to gain control of the entire world. We were each trained in groups to capture a specific country and attack at different times."

"And your assigned country?"

"I am Italian…prendo la mia."

"Mein Gott…" This was the first real response from the German. He pulled his hands away from his face and ran his fingers through his ravished hair. His crystal blue eyes fell on the human's, who automatically looked away; refusing to look at him. "What are they doing to them?" The boy didn't look up or reply. "Answer me!" Rizzo jumped and slowly looked into the German's eyes.

"I…d-don't think you w-want to know…"

"Bastard!" Germany jumped up from the chair he had been sitting on and instantaneously made to jump at the boy. Prussia stood up at his brother's sudden reaction and managed to grab him at the last minute. "Answer me, schwein!" The boy looked positively fearful now as the German nation tried to attack him.

Ivan observed this with mild interest. Instead he focused on the information he just received. He remembered when his government had decided to raise spies that would one day take down America. It had been…interesting when it failed. If this boy was telling the truth, then each and every one of them had spies throughout their countries, waiting to attack and capture them. The Italies were obviously undergoing either torture or experiments. Possibly both. Either way, Germany would not be pleased to hear what was happening to his Italian lover. Wait…

"Hold on…" Ivan stood and walked between the terrified boy and the enraged nation. He turned to Rizzo. "Do you know who this is?" he asked pointing to Germany. Slowly the boy nodded. "Who is he?"

"Die Bundersrepublik Deutschland."

Germany froze. "Do you know who any of the others are?" Rizzo looked each at each country present. "She is Magyar Köztársaság, you are Rossiyskaya Federatsiya and he is the United States of America."

Ivan laughed. "But you only knew America and myself because of our accents, da?"

"Yes."

"Then how does he know who I am?" the Hungarian demanded.

"Because you have had dealings with the Italies, da? In your training, you were forced to recognize the countries close to your target."

"Yes."

"And that is why you are not mentioning the fate of Italy…in the presence of his lover." The boy seemed to shrink. Ivan smiled. "Too bad for you, da, because I am wanting to know why we are being targeted. And you will be telling me…now."

"T-the main reason is…curiosity. The General wants to know about your healing abilities, your connection to your land, where you come from, what happens when you die…" he trailed off there at the sickened and angry expressions that covered the faces of the nations.

"Experiments…" The word came out of Switzerland's mouth like a curse. "Where are they being held?"

"I don't know."

"You…don't…know…" Germany seemed ready to burst. "Wie zum Teufel willst du nicht wissen?"

"My only job was to take the armory to an undisclosed location that only he-" He motioned towards the corpse of Talkative. "-knew. Then we were going to get the next assignment."

"Fene egye meg …" Hungary cursed. "Now what?"

Ivan thought before leaning in, inches from the Italian spy's face. "Now…we make a plan, da?"

* * *

><p><em>So, there it was. If any of you have ever seen the movie SALT with Angelina Jolie, that's where i got inspiration for this. Basicly, people in the government are deciding that they are curious about the nations and wish to experimenttortue/something else i WILL NOT be saying...cause i myself am not sure about it. I need to talk to Scarlet about it...anyway..._

_I'm sorry it was short. I was going to go back to Romano and Italy, but decided not to. LOL~! I know...I'm mean like that. Again, sorry for the late (A MONth LATE YOU ASSWIPE~! ^.^...as i'm sure you all want to scream at me) update. I shall try to update more now that school is done and i can think._

_Translations: _

_Молчать!"-silence_

_prendo la mia-I take my own (Italian)_

_schwein-swine_

_Die Bundersrepublik Deutschland-(if you don't know this, then you are in big trouble.) The Republic of Germany_

_Magyar Köztársaság-(again…shame shame…) –Republic of Hungary_

_Rossiyskaya Federatsiya-(*shakes head*)-Russian Federation_

_ fene egye meg-damn it all!(Hungarian)_


	7. It's Not Over

_WOw...sorry it's been so long. XP I haven't been really inspired for this story and have instead been working on other stories. Anywho, here it is..._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7: It's Not Over<strong>

Days were officially meshed together. If he hadn't known how long they had been here before, now,it was pointless. There was no time in this place. He and his brother slept. If they weren't doing that, then they were simply lying there with nothing but each other and their mangled bodies. Lovino knew that it was pointless to dwell on any hopes of escaping because even if the opportunity arrived…they were both so beat to shit that neither of them would get far before death finally over took them. Death seemed like his best bet for escape though, but he couldn't leave Feliciano here. No…he would need to make sure Feli died first…then he would be free to take his own life and…

"Gah!" Lovino shook his head weakly in an attempt to rid his mind of such thoughts. Death defiantly was _not_ an option! What the hell? He was cracking…more than he had ever cracked in his life if he was contemplating murdering his own brother then himself just to get out of this hell hole. God he was so weak…so tired…he barley registered the door opening and guards approaching him…

* * *

><p>Salvatore Rizzo lightly pulled at his overly tight bonds. How the hell had he gotten himself into this bullshit? God, the things he would do for his country…funny how that meaning seemed so much…more…knowing the truth and all.<p>

He owed so much…to the General…to the countries that now threatened his life. He groaned. He needed to sort where his loyalties truly lied…

* * *

><p>The Italian found himself in a large plain, dark room, tied to a chair. The asshat he had come to despise so much was sitting beside him at a table where various instruments lay. He groaned and, despite his lack of strength, managed to keep his spark.<p>

"…bastard…"

The General smirked and nodded to a soldier that Lovino hadn't even realized was there. Said guard produced a syringe and jabbed it into Lovino's arm.

"Fuck…agh…couldn't be gentler…fucker…" Seconds later, this feeling of calm overcame him and he gasped. It was almost like he was drunk…which made him smirk. Lovino was a horrible drunk…and if this was that truth shit they gave Feliciano, then this was going to be interesting.

"Now…" the General began. "As much as I would prefer to not have to work with…_you…_I have realized that I am running out of time and thus have no choice."

Lovino choked and began laughing. "You…are 'running out of time'? Are you scared? They finally catching up to your ass?"

The General glared at his cockiness, then recovered and smirked. "I don't understand why you're laughing?"

"Because Feli and are going to get out of here…and you're going to die."

The reaction the nation had been expecting…was not what he got. On the contrary, the bastard before him laughed. Lovino's face fell. "What the fuck's so funny?"

He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. It's just…you seem to think that the other nations…your 'friends' are coming to save you."

"Uh…ya…"

The smirk never left his face. "For being a country that is hundreds of years old…you are quite childish you know? No. I am not cowering in fear. You both have been here for _weeks. _Your 'friends' have no idea where we are and there is no reason for them to find out. My spies are placed perfectly around the globe and none of them would dare tell. No…I'm pressed on time because my _rats_ are starting to expire."

Lovino blinked at him then it clicked. Did he just…Did he mean that…"You bastard…"

"Yes…now, I have some questions that you will be answering for me."

"Hell no!"

"Let's hope that your replies are…more intelligent than your 'brothers'."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"Tell me, when harm comes to your land, it affects you correct?"

"Go to hell!"

"If your people come down with a disease, that also affects you?"

"Fuck off!"

"Lovino…" The Italian gasped. "Don't. You. Dare. Fucking. Call. Me. That! You have no, _no_, fucking right you piece of shit!"

The General raised his hand to his forehead and kneaded it. "It seems that with your…attitude…you need some…positive motivation." He motioned for the guard to approach him and whispered in his ear. They both smirked in the fiery Italian's way before the guard left.

During his absence, the human and nation simply glared at each other.

"I have no idea what you think you're doing…but it isn't going to work."

"You think so?" The man's smile grew as he looked past Lovino at the door, which opened revealing the guard and…

"Feli!"

* * *

><p>Rizzo's head shot up as the door slightly crept open. He braced himself for another harsh round with the Russian nation, but instead came face to face with a human…dressed in a black suit with a German flag pinned on it.<p>

"Hallo, mein freund."

"Elek Kohl!" Surprised by his friend's presence, he switched to German. "Had I known you were here…" He said smiling.

Kohl approached him and produced a knife, cutting the ropes away. "What would you have done? Come found me?"

"Had more hope I guess." They both stood and greeted each other. "How long has it been?"

"Years…but we do not have time for this. You must tell me how you were caught and, more importantly, what you have told _them._"

Rizzo smirked. "I have told them only what they could afford to know." Kohl didn't look impressed and seemed to erg him on with his deep blue eyes. "I only chanced to tell them that our _organization_ was fascinated with their existence."

"And the representatives that we have…what have you said about them?"

A dark smile came over Rizzo's face. "Nothing that they don't already know. I would never tell them the real purpose of our experimentation."

"They know nothing of the human-country DNA testing that we will soon do?

"Nein."

Kohl clapped his Italian friend's back and smiled proudly. "You are a true soldier. I am proud to call you my friend." They were silent for a few moments before Kohl nodded towards the door. "Now…let's get you to your next location and continue doing our work."

The German walked towards the door and cracked it open before exiting. The Italian took one step but then paused. His eyes glanced down at his pocket, which seemed to weigh a ton. The object within: a cell phone and in it, a very special number. He sighed before following his fellow soldier and concentrating on the plan before him.

* * *

><p>The guard produced another chair and placed it before Lovino. In the chair, he tied down his barley conscious brother and attached a few wires on his arms and chest.<p>

"Feli?" He asked, frantic. The Italian didn't move. "Feliciano? Look at me, dammit! Please!"

Feliciano shuddered and lightly lifted his head and stared at Lovino with dazed eyes. "L-Lovi?"

"Dios, Feli. Don't worry ok? I'm going to get you out of here…ok?"

"Hmm…well, now that you have motivation, let's try this again."

Lovino's eyes shot towards the General. "Bastard!"

"Your kind and your land are connected and what hurts one hurts the other, correct?"

Lovino just shook his head and looked away, back to Feliciano. "Fratello? Feli?"

An electrical sound was heard that made Lovino freeze in fear. Feliciano's eyes shot open in pain and he screamed as the current passed through his nervous system.

"Stop! Please! Bastard! Stop!" Playing deaf to his pleads; the man continued his electrical attack on Italy. "Fucking Bastard! Stop! Yes! Yes! Ok? Yes…just…please stop…ok…yes…" Lovino hung his head low and choked back tears as the current and Feliciano's screams stopped. "Yes…what fucking happens to the fucking land affects us…and the other way." He cringed as he saw his people in tatters from the abuse the country was receiving."

"Interesting…so a simple disease would leave you helpless as your people suffered?"

"…yes…" He shuddered. The General wandered his thoughts. The only sound for a few moments was Feliciano's gasping and subtle whimpers. Lovino reached through the bond, and the strange effect the truth serum had on it, and comforted his brother. Feliciano smiled slightly at Lovino's sudden presence in his mind. The General didn't miss the subtle sense of communication between the two and it intrigued him.

"Why are you two 'brothers'?"

The truth serum found the annoyance in Lovino's mind and brought it forward. "Because we fucking are, soldier-bastard."

The sound started up again and Feliciano screamed again. Lovino panicked. "Gesù! Stop! Dios! Just fucking stop!" The current ceased.

"Then quite being a smart ass…or your 'brother' will pay the price."

"I…b-because the north and southern halves are so different. B-because he was raised by a French wine-bastard and I had the tomato-bastard! Because we were split up before our culture could even grow into anything! That's fucking why!" He turned back to his brother. "Feliciano…"

"You two seem to have a connection."

"What the fuck's that supposed to mean?" He turned back at the General and blinked in confusion. The serum was starting to make him feel woozy. The human sighed. "I have noticed the almost silent communication between the two of you. Is it because you are both the same country? You are both Italy?"

"Ya, dumbass." He had to blink a few times to clear the fog clouding his vision.

"No other country has this connection?"

"Hell no…" It was a lie…sort of. Germany and Prussia seemed to share something. America and Canada did too…sort of. Nothing like him and his fratello though.

"Hmm…" The General was thoughtfully stroking his chin and thinking through this new information. The original plan was to test their durability with the weakest and easiest country to catch: Italy. The next step, after the Italians finally perished, was supposed to take another, stronger, country and begin DNA testing. This though…this was fascinating. Maybe the Italies were more…special than he originally pegged them for. He smiled and Lovino, knowing he said something wrong, paled.

"It seems I have a more…larger use for you." He turned to the guard and motioned for him to take the boys back to their cell. Lovino, finally succumbing to the serum, fainted.

* * *

><p><em>So...what's up with this Rizzo? Where does his loyalties lie? Hmmmm...soon to find out...maybe...LOL<em>

_Poor Lovi..._

_Poor Feli..._

_Now, for those that are curious, all that Truth Serum stuff...it does NOT make you speak the truth. It makes you...feel goooooood. Of course it depends on your personality. Some people, it won't work on AT ALL! Lovino is one of these people. It makes you more drunk feeling. Feli talked because his is a naturally talkative person. Lovi was more blunt and rude like usual. WHich is why Feli was used to motivate him. *shrug* If you have problems, look it up! then come crying to me about it. _

_Now, because i'm in such a nice mood right now, i am deciding to let you all chose the next chapter! Here are your choices~!_

_1) Lovi and Feli_

_2) Germany and the others_

_3) Rizzo_

_MAKE YOUR CHOICE AND LET ME KNOW~! OH! and btw, the faster you all review, the faster i will know who to write from and the faster i will write it~! XD NOW~! GET REVIEWING!_


	8. Holding On

_So, here is the next chapter. I decided that...well i really have no idea what i was going to say. Most people wanted Lovi and Feli. A few wanted Germany and the others. One wanted Rizzo. I have appealed to..._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8: Holding On<strong>

_Thump…_

_Thump…_

_Thump…_

The Italian gritted his teeth as sweat dripped down his brow. His entire body was spazzing and twitching uncontrollably. His breathing was coming in short spurts and still there was that thumping sound reverberating through his weakened skull. He just wanted the thumping to stop. It was driving him crazy!

_Thump…_

_Thump…_

_Thump…_

His ears exploded with the sound and the pressure seemed as if it was trying to shatter his mind from the inside out. _Why can't it stop? Why won't it stop! Ludwig! Please…make it stop!_

His hand griped around for his brother…for comfort, but found nothing. He opened his eyes, which he didn't even realize he had closed, and looked around; suddenly frightened, he realized this was not the right cell. They moved him! They had moved him while they both slept!

His eyes slammed shut and a tear rolled down his face.

_Thump…_

_Thump…_

_Thump…_

_He ran through the house screaming. "LUUUUUDWIIIG! HEEELP!" He ran down the hall and straight into the study, flying into the blond man's arms._

_"Agh! I-Italy! Calm down! What's wrong?"_

_"I-It's th-there! And it wants to get me! I-I'm scared!"_

_The German sighed and caressed his lover whispering words of comfort. "What is _it_?" He asked._

_The Italian simply grabbed his hand and whisked him back to their room, pointing. "See? There it is! Get it Ludwig! Get it!"_

_A smile tainted the German's lips as he observed the spider, sitting on the wall with its legs stretched out; ready to run at a moment's notice. Then back to his lover; freaking out at the little arachnid as if it was a monster ready to devour him. Ludwig sighed. "Really, Italy?"_

_"YEEEEES!" Was his exasperated reply. The blond laughed and gabbed a nearby shoe, ready to attack. He smacked at the wall, but the spider avoided easily. Again and again, the spider avoided its death. The brunette watched in terror as the spider, unknowingly to Ludwig and the eight legged creature in question, came closer and closer. Italy panicked and went to take a step backwards, but tripped over his other foot and fell backwards unto the corner of the dresser._

_He opened his eyes to Ludwig's piercing blue ones, franticly scanning him for injury. Italy blinked and groaned as the pounding thump filled his ears._

_"Feliciano? Are you alright?" He nodded weakly. Germany grabbed his love into a tight embrace. "Mein Gott, Feli, you need to be more careful." His hand gently caressed Italy's back while his other pulled his head closer to his own. Feliciano looked up at his lover and his face fell. Germany face was furrowed in confusion as he pulled his hand off the Italian's and saw blood. _

Thump…

Thump…

Thump…

_Further observation saw that the Italian had sliced the back of his head on the corner of the desk. The Italian felt light headed as the pounding in his head became unbearable. Ludwig cleaned and wrapped his cut, before looking him in the eyes. "You really need to be more careful, Leibling."_

Thump…

Thump…

Thump…

_"Is…is it gone?" The German smiled. "Ja…it is dead."_

_"Bene…" They kissed._

His eyes shot open as he gasped for breath after subconsciously holding it while he kissed his love during the memory. The thumping was still there and he cried. "I…I'm sorry…Lud…wig."

He now knew what the painful thumping was that he wanted to stop so badly…his heartbeat.

* * *

><p>"No word yet."<p>

Ludwig looked up at his brother. "Was?"

"Rizzo."

Right. Ludwig sighed and went back to staring at nothing. He heard the ex-nation groan and sit next to him on the bed.

"West…you can't keep doing this to yourself. You have to sleep eventually."

"…weeks…" he mumbled.

"Was?"

"I said…it's been weeks…_weeks, _Bruder, _weeks!" _

Now it was Prussia's turn to sigh. "I know…I'm sure they're-"

"If you say 'fine', I swear to Gott I'm going to punch you in the face. They are NOT fine! They're being tortured. How can he be fine when I'm not there to save him…to hold him. He needs me and I'm stuck here waiting on this Gottverdammt plan!" He stood up suddenly and went to walk, but stumbled as his lack of sleep began to take effect.

Prussia stood and silently walked over to his brother and threw an arm around his waist for support. He then led the now crying nation back to the bed and laid him down.

"I have to save him, Gilbert. This shouldn't have happened. I should have…I should have been there to stop them. I…"

"Could do nothing. None of us knew this was going to happen. And right now, you can't do much of anything. Now…go to sleep. I promise I will wake you if anything happens."

"But.." He pleaded , his eyes swollen from tears and half closed. He looked about ready to pass out at any moment.

"No buts! Now, sleep verdammit!"

Prussia turned for the door and shut it behind him. He shuddered and fought to keep his own tears in check. _West is in so much pain…_Shaking himself of grief, he turned and walked down the hall to the Antonio's room. He knocked, but no one answered. Thinking he missed him, he continued down the hall and ran into him as he was turning the corner.

"Toni."

The Spaniard looked no better than West. The only difference was that he at least was getting some sleep, due to the annoying persistence of a certain Frenchman. "How are you?"

Antonio just looked at him, a single tear falling from the corner of his eye. "You have to ask, mi amigo?" Gilbert sighed and brought him into a tight hug, one that the normally carefree country melted into. "I want him back, Gil…I want my Lovi."

"We'll get him back, ok? Both of them."

"What if he's dead? What if we're too late?"

The Prussian bit his lip. They couldn't be…too late…they would have known if the Italian country was dead. They…would have…right? "They're not dead. I know it." He lied. Anything just to make sure Toni and West remained calm and go their rest. "We _will_ get to them in time…and that little prick, he's going to run to you and cling to you. He's going to confess his love for you and everything is going to be ok. Ok?"

Spain gave a downhearted smile. "Ya…"

"Ya, then the awesome me and Francis are going to be your best men at you and the annoying Italian's wedding. You'll be wearing the black suit and he's going to wear the dress." They both gave chuckle at the image of Lovino sulking in a white wedding dress. "Feli is going to be the Maid of Honor and then him and West are going to get married, where I shall once again be the best man."

"Promise?" Gilbert felt the need to lie again when he looked down and met the miserable green eyes of his friend. "I promise."

* * *

><p>The cold, empty feeling in his arms had his eyes shooting open. Feliciano wasn't there. He wasn't anywhere. Anger filled his entire being. He gripped the wall and steadied himself onto his shaking legs. Taking one foot in front of the other, he slowly gimped his way to the door and beat on it with his fists.<p>

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! GIVE ME BACK MY BROTHER! FELICIANO! ANSWER ME! PLEASE! FELI! BASTARD! FELICIANO!" there were no replies. Not his brother. Not the enemies that surrounded him. Nothing. "NO! PLEASE! FELI! FRATELLO!" He beat his hands against the door and screamed his voice raw. Finally hitting his limit, his legs gave out from beneath him. He crumpled by the door and sobbed. He sobbed for his brother. For himself. For Antonio. He even wept for the potato-bastard.

* * *

><p>The drive to Russia was killing him. What should he do? He was finally back on his mission. Finally able to please his leader…but he had promised. He had promised to help them. The phone sitting undisturbed in his pocket seemed to weigh so much. How had no one noticed? How had no one seen that he had this…this <em>device <em>on him that could destroy the whole operation and have the countries of the world crashing down on them. He needed to understand what to do. Continue on his mission…or save the country he once called home.

Either way…he was going to die.

* * *

><p>...<em>EVERYONE! YAY! I'm amazing~! ^(*.*)^<em>

_Now, i hope no one is trying to figure out the whole 'weeks' thing because i have no idea how accurate that is. thigs probably wont add up . I just think weeks makes more sense because no one gets kidnapped and saved within a few _days._ So...i'm right. But between the different groups...i have no idea. I figure that Italy was attacked, the other nations rushed over. Russia found Rizzo and...the other guy and had to take them back to France where everyone was meeting up. Now, Russia couldn't take the humans on a plane or anything, so he drove or walked (which i assume he could and would .) so that took a day or so at least. They were tortured more and Russia finally got to torturing, himself. Now it's been a week or so i say. Then days of torture for Rizzo and other. FInally they have a plan, and now he is traveling to Russia (where the base is...i figure that since EVERYTHNG they do is Russia related why the hell not?...Russia is NOT INVOLVED THOUGH! If you couldn't get that then REREAD THE DAMN STORY!) _

_Soooo, i say weeks. If you want to figure that crap out, yay for you. I really don't care. Let me know if you feel you NEED to tell me, but again, i dont care. Its been weeks...the end._

_I don't know if i mentioned this earlier in the story, but i get the idea for Rizzo and all them from the movie SALT. *shrug* if i already did, then there it is again._


	9. Chosen

_Oh my God, you guys i am sooooo sorry for being this late. X( I was hopeing to get this in ALOT sooner, but first there was me being unknowing to what i wanted next, then distractions keeping me from the story itself...SORRYSORRYSORRYSORRY! PLease forgive me...;A;_

_Well, here it finally is. I'm afraid i will be slow with updating anything for a while. Marching Band started the first, ends on the 11th (an all day thing. 9-12(lunch)then 1-4)and school starts the 18th. Again...sorry. We are nearing the end though. Of course, that could mean anywhere from 5-10 more chapters XD (not 10...i don't think)_

_anyway...here we go...don't shoot me if you don't like it. *hides*_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9: Chosen<strong>

The hummer pulled up to the nearly invisible base, surrounded by the Russian snow. Rizzo and Kohl exited the vehicle and trekked through the white mounds to the main gate where they were greeted by fellow agents of the General.

"Follow me please." A shorter man with green eyes and brown hair led the pair deep into the complex through large double doors into what looked like a hospital room. There were two tables set up in the middle of the room with various medical equipment placed around them on tables. Fellow agents busied themselves preparing for what looked almost like a surgery of some kind. Rizzo swallowed the sudden feeling to be sick and stood strong. Whatever they were doing didn't concern him…probably.

"Elek Kohl. Good to see you again."

"Glad to be back, Sir."

"Good. And Salvatore Rizzo. Didn't think I'd be seeing you again."

"General, Sir." He faced his commander; falling into routine.

"At ease, soldier. So…you made it out alive."

"Yes, Sir."

"Good. Now it has come to my attention that the weapons you were supposed to bring are now being held within the Italian Government."

"Yes, Sir."

"And why is that again?" The strong urge to sigh was restrained by the years of training. "The Rossiyskaya Federatsiya wasn't fooled by the fire and found us. He then proceeded to…take us with him to be questioned by the other nations."

A small smile tugged at the General's lips. "So you were captured…and managed to escape without a scratch. Interesting…" His voice seemed to ooze sarcasm. Rizzo slightly cringed. "and what did you tell the nations?"

"Nothing of the true plan. I only risked to say that we are an organization that was…_interested_ in their existence. I would never dare speak about the true testing. I only played on what they already guessed."

"And Kohl got you out?"

"Yes, Sir."

A thoughtful look crossed his face. "It seems that nothing was spoiled too much. Glad to have such a loyal soldier on my team-" A man in scrubs approached them and whispered to the General before walking away. "Well, men, best to fall to the sides and observe. Today is going to be one of educational purposes.

"Sir!" They saluted before moving to the sidelines.

A feeling of pure apprehension filled the atmosphere. It was almost crushing; the air was so thick with excitement. The very looks on the 'doctors' faces were that of an eager child their first time in a candy store. A numbing chill seemed to creep up his spine causing him to shiver in discomfort. Kohl glanced at him in a mix of confusion and concern. Rizzo held his stance and gave a curt nod to hide his fervent unease.

Two doors on the opposite side opened revealing a body being slung between to guards. The room became filled with enthusiastic chatter from the others in the room as the man was taken to the first slab and laid down. Salvatore's jaw fell slack as he took in the site before him. The young man was so skinny, it was almost skeletal. His skin was bruised with certain sections swollen and discolored from potential infection. It wasn't until Rizzo detailed his face when his heart cracked. Nothing could have prepared him for it. Even with studying his history, seeing pictures of his face…staring at the mangled face of half his home land…of Italy…was so much more real.

The nation had to be thousands of years old…but he looked no older then Rizzo himself. His broken body made him look so helpless.

The doors opened again and the other half of Italy was dragged in.

This one was still awake, but weak. He wasn't struggling, but the look on his face indicated such thoughts. He wearily lifted his head and glared around at the people in the room. The very moment he spotted his unmoving brother on the other slab, his look of loathing turned into one of desperation.

"F-Feli? Fratello…please…look at me!"

No one even seemed to notice him speak. They just went on gawking at him as he was placed on the second slab beside his brother. Everyone was transfixed on the nations as they waited for the General to make his start.

"You bastard…"

The man didn't so much as glance at the nation before he walked over to the first. "Now, this is simply an examination. The two of them have been here for a decent amount of time to heal from the tests we have already preformed. Now, we shall see exactly what kind of progress we have. First we will start with the northern half." Everyone seemed to crowd closer to Italy as the General approached his table.

"Italy Veneziano, also known as Feliciano Vargas. He is approximately 2,000 years old, but only seems about 20 if he were human. He also mentioned the Roman Empire which could peg his true age even higher." Everyone seemed to be hastily writing noted.

"Most of the burns have faded, but some of the extreme burns still remain and seem to have gotten potentially infected. The strange curl has yet to grow back, if it even will. His leg, which was broken from the attacks on the land itself, is slightly twisted meaning signs of possible incorrect healing."

He sighed. "Italy's very body seems to have grown frail and sickly. Due to his bodily ailments, a fever has taken over. I will admit, he was the greatest failure and will die in the next few weeks possibly."

"BASTARD! Don't you fucking say that! Don't you dare fucking say that!"

The General smiled and turned to south Italy. "On to the next one then."

He approached the struggling nation. "Italy Romano, also known as Lovino Vargas. Also approximately 2,000 years but seems only 22-23. Unlike the other, this one has a more irate and bad-tempered attitude that was left unbroken despite my many attempts."

"Fucker!"

He was only met with another sarcastic sigh. "His hand also only slightly healed correctly, meaning that a nation person does indeed need medical attention when crucially injured."

"No shit. What? Did you think we stitched ourselves back together magically?"

Their eyes met; the fire in each of them trying to cancel out the other. In the end the General chose to ignore him. Rizzo could not. What everyone else failed to notice due to their total focus on the General was the look of regret, sadness and loss that filled Italy Romano's eyes every time he looked towards his brother. The pure emotion being passed silently from one Italy to the other was like a brick to Rizzo's face. This was indeed _wrong_.

"Again, the curl has not yet grown, but once again, we don't really know if it even will. The cuts seemed to have healed smoothly, but he too is ungodly sick looking. On the contrary though, the lack of spirit reduction is a sign that he might not expire on us, unlike the other, and we may continue out work."

"MOTHER FUCKER! SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

He turned away from the fuming Italy. "Take the blood samples and someone shut that one up. Then put them back in their cells. That's an order."

Everything seemed to speed up there. Everyone else went about to their next place of business in deep conversation about the nations. Those that remained were preforming their tasks of sedation and taking blood samples.

Rizzo was transfixed by the pair. They seemed so much _more_ than the other humans in the room. It was shocking how something so beautiful and unaffected by time and logic could be treated so appallingly.

Kohl approached from nowhere as the Italians were taken away. "Interesting isn't it?"

"Huh? Oh…ya." He lied. It wasn't interesting at all. It was offensive and repulsive.

"Pretty soon, our work will be complete."

"Ya…"

He glanced back at the phone in his pocket. He no longer needed to decide. His choice was chosen a long time ago…

* * *

><p><em>Well...did you like it? I decided to get a little Rizzo in there for those who liked him..if you didn't, then i'm sorry. Next chapter will be the other countries (germany, spain, russia...) I <em>might_ add some Italy action in there...might not. If i do, you might not like where it goes . (not to scare anyone or anything...^.^)_

_Now here is the biggie! What do you all want? Mindfuck (if i can squeeze one in... *thinks...i might just be able to...), happy, or sad ending? Hmmmmmm...choices choices choices...now with this one, i need votes! I can't just make everyone happy (wheres the fun in that? espicially if i do it twice?)_

_SOOOOO! VOTE NOW! _

_MINDFUCK_

_HAPPY_

_SAD_

_GO NOW AND VOTE IN REVIEWS!_


	10. Have Faith in Me

_Oh...well...here is another chapter...i wrote this and i really don't know what to say about it..._

_*Sigh* here it is_

_OH! FYI i have fallin in love with Soul Eater. IF you haven't seen it/read it DO! Its AMAZING! I LOVE Death the Kid (he's alos played by Todd Haberkorn ...like Italy~!) and Soul~!_

_Off track...anyway...here ya go..._

* * *

><p>Ludwig slept, lost in fitful dreams. No matter how much his mind screamed for rest, all he saw was Italy. His Feliciano was dead. His lover wouldn't be returned to his waiting arms. However many battle plans his subconscious planned for rescue, none of them were in time to save his beloved.<p>

His eyes snapped open as a cold hand was placed on his bare arm. Automatically, his other hand lurched out and gripped the other's arm, forcefully twisting up.

"Mutter ficken! Gott verdammt, Westen! Was das bumsen?" At the sounds of his brother's painful protests, he released his hold and apologized.

"Sorry, bruder." He groggily sat up and groaned, placing his head in his hands.

"Jesus, West! That fucking hurt!"

"Sorry…"

Red eyes looked over at his brother's disheveled form. Prussia sighed and sat next to Germany, wrapping his uninjured arm around his brother.

"I take it sleep didn't do much good?"

"No…" He paused. "I keep seeing him…dead." The last word was a whisper that was clouded with tears. Gilbert sighed and hugged his little brother tighter. "No matter what I try to do, I always end up losing him at the last second."

"That's not going to happen."

"You don't know that."

"Actually…I do. Because I'm awesome like that. Now…" He clamped his bothers back. "Its morning and we're going to be heading down to breakfast with everyone else."

Ludwig glared at Gilbert before faltering. Though the room was fairly dark since the curtains were still drawn, he could see the false smile on his brother's face. His red eyes seemed less bright and there were dark circles underneath them. His smile wasn't as cocky as it usually was. Gilbert was lying. He also possessed the dark possibility that Feliciano and Lovino might be dead.

Instead of commenting on it, he nodded again to appease his brother.

* * *

><p>When they reached the downstairs level, they were met with an uncanny silence. No one spoke. Even America, with his ever present aura of happy and chitchat, was unnervingly quiet with his head down cast, purposely avoiding all eye contact. Japan sat beside Canada, Hungary and Austria, simply staring at his bowl of uneaten miso. As Germany entered with Prussia, Kiku glanced up with his knowing eyes. He nodded and gestured towards the two empty chairs beside him.<p>

Gilbert led his brother to the chair and put him down. "I'm going to go get us wurst…" he glanced around at their sullen faces. "…and beer." He figured being drunk was the best way to deal with the uneasy atmosphere.

None of them looked up at his words, but simply nodded. Germany glanced around at the other nations present, but they all had the same sad look. Italy had another earthquake. It stretched from Nalpes to Florence and was measured at 10.5. Scientists were baffled by the sheer power and length of the quake, but the countries knew; Italy's representatives were dying. They were running out of time.

It had been over a week since Rizzo 'escaped' from their compound. They hadn't heard anything. Everyone's spirits were hanging on by a thread. Even the nations that had not really known either Italy very well seemed to be equally feeling the pain.

Gilbert retuned to the table with two overflowing plates of wurst and as much beer as he could carry. No one looked up. He tried to lighten the mood several times, but when nothing changed, he sat quietly and drank his beer.

A shrill ringing filled the air, causing everyone to jump…except the receiver. Russia merely looked at his phone in curiosity before answering.

"Алло?" He paused before raising an eyebrow in shock. He quickly removed the phone from his ear and clicked the speaker button. A voice rang through, surrounded by static and white noise.

_"Please forgive my non formality. I cannot risk saying your true names."_

"Understood, comrade Rizzo. You have made it?"

_"…yes."_

"I can hear my homeland through the speaker…you are very far from civilization, da?"

_"The base is somewhere in the middle of Siberia. I'm afraid I can't tell you much more. I haven't been trusted with much. They find it suspicious that I made it here alive."_

Ivan smiled. "As they should be. Now," He glanced at Germany and then to Spain, who had just been led in with France. "Do inform us…are they there?"

The crackling of static was their reply. The room was filled with the buzz of tension until the other man's voice clearly rang out. _"Yes." _Rizzo's words were dripping with grief. _"They…" _He tried to collect his words before speaking to a room of powerful nations. _"I've seen them."_

Spain pushed France off him and sprinted towards the phone, successfully tearing it from Ivan's hand. "Lovi? You've seen my Lovi? Please… tell me he's ok. That he…he isn't…" He choked on a sob. Francis walked over and pried the phone away from him, handing it back to Ivan, and comforting his friend.

Rizzo was silent. Everything he had been going to say was ripped from his mind. How could one answer someone who sounded like that? Especially when the answer was not a joyous one?

_"He…they…" _He sighed in defeat. _"How soon can you all get here?"_

Several nations cried out. Antonio collapsed in agony. Ludwig remained as calm as he could; his bottom lip trembling. Ivan took this as his indication to take the man off speaker.

In Russian he replied. "You are off speaker, my friend. What is their condition?"

_"Veneziano is...he has a fever from infection and is unresponsive. Romano is awake and his spirit is still not broken. But…they're separated. I know where one is, but I really have no idea where they have placed the other."_

Ivan thought this through. "Is there anything you can do? We will use every available resource we, as nations, have to get to my home quickly. Once we cross the border, I will be able to locate them. Siberia you say?"

_"Yes."_

"Good. It should be fairly easy to track them to there. Depending on how weak their wavelengths are, I might have to pull on yours. Do not leave the compound. I shall call when we are only hours away. When the call occurs, you must try to take the Italies and leave or you will die. We will take no mercy on their place. Do you understand?"

_"Yes." _A pause. _"I must leave. Good luck and I shall try what I can."_

Ivan clicked the end call button. The nations were all in chaos. Those where weren't in tears, were yelling at each other. It didn't matter the words said, all that mattered was action.

"Silence!"

They followed his command. "Now, we need to get Russia."

"Dude! I know exactly what to do!"

"Good."

* * *

><p>The nations worked to gather every special military group they possessed and within a few short hours, every jet available was shooting off to Russia.<p>

Apprehension was building up inside the German. He knew that they were running out of time. What if Italy was dead? It had been hours since the call. What if…NO! He shook the thoughts out of his head. There wasn't time to dwell on death.

Beside him, America sat talking with his Seal Team 6. Ludwig had to admit, he was impressed. They seemed to focused and adamant. Of course, this was the team that took out Bin Laden. Gilbert put an arm around Ludwig's shoulder.

"See? We're on our way. Only a few more hours." Germany nodded, but said nothing. He really wanted to see Italy. To see Feliciano. He needed to hold him and tell him that he loved him. He wanted to see Feliciano smile and hug him and talk nonstop about pasta, but there was this deep feeling biting and ripping at his gut that Feliciano wasn't alive. That he would never get the chance to talk to him ever again.

A single tear slid down his cheek and he forcefully wiped it away. Ludwig gripped the gun in his lap tighter. _I'm coming for you Libeling._

* * *

><p>He stood calmly, watching the others walk past him while he waited. He felt nervous. He did, after all, just betray his family to a bunch of warring nations. His life was now at risk. <em>If I ask and they find out, they will kill me, but if I can't find North and South Italy in time and they die, then the nations will kill me. If I run, both sides will kill me.<em> He was so lost in thought that he didn't hear the approaching footsteps.

"Salvatore, there you are. I've been looking for you for hours-are you alright?"

The boy looked up to his longtime friend. "I'm fine."

He wasn't convinced. "Are you sure? There's something…different about you." Elek placed a comforting hand on Salvatore's shoulder. He stared for a moment before his eyes hardened slightly. "I know."

Rizzo's pulse raced. "K-know? Know what?" _how can he know?_

Elek rolled his eyes. "It's hard. You were tortured and now you're being brought back into duty." _Oh…that. Thank the Lord. I thought he knew I was betraying them…_"besides, it _is_ a shock seeing the nation you were trained to capture up close. It's almost like they're _real _people!" He laughed a cold hearted laugh that made Salvatore shudder. How had he never noticed his best friend's cold-blooded heart before?

"Anyway…" He stopped and went back to normal, which was also a scary sight to see. "I can to tell you that we are being relocated."

"W-what?"

Elek stared at him with an eyebrow raised. "We're being relocated. You didn't bring what He wanted, so now were being sent on our next task."

"So soon? Aren't we going to be briefed?"

"I will brief you on the way."

"Where are we going?" _stall…I need to stall for time._

"Since the nations know, we decided to just start attacking them periodically. We're being sent to Spain."

"Don't I need to-"

A light buzzing filled the room. Rizzo froze as Elek's eyes traveled to his pants pocket where the phone inside was vibrating, signaling a call from Russia…meaning he had only a few short hours to get the Italies to safety.

Elek never took his eyes off the phone-containing pocket. "What's in your pocket, my _friend?_ I don't recall the General ever handing out phones like _that_ to us. So…how'd you get it?"

"I…I…" His heart was racing. Elek Kohl was staring at him, his eyes knowing. A slight smirk on his face. _OH GOD! HE KNOWS!_ Rizzo paled. There weren't many things he could hide from Elek. It had always been that way. His German friend always seemed to be able to see right through him. Elek was always able to know Salvatore's weakness…and play off them.

Rizzo did the only thing he could think of and took off running. He needed to get the Italies out of here. The other nations were coming. There wasn't much time. He needed to free Italy Romano and then find Italy Veneziano.

The cell which contained the southern half of Italy was a simple slide lock; no key needed anymore. They figured Italy Romano was too weak to actually break the metal door, and they were right. He had given up hope. His brother was unresponsive and he, himself, saw no rescue in the near future.

Rizzo slide the lock and swung the door open. Slumped against the wall, both hands cuffed to the wall, to stop the nation from causing damage to himself, was Romano. Rizzo slowly approached and gaped. Up close the nation seemed to much worse than he had about a day ago in the lab.

His face was sunken, his clothes in tatters, his hair was matted and dirty, he had black circles under his eyes and he just hung there, limply. Rizzo crouched down to his level.

"I-Italy?"

No response.

"Italy? Italy Romano?"

The Italian nation slowly lifted his head and glared. "Fuck…off." Salvatore sighed and replied in Italian.

"I'm here to help you."

"Like your…not the f…irst to…tell me that. Fuck…off so I can…die in peace…" the nation was so weak.

"My name is Salvatore Rizzo. I have spoken to la Federazione Russa. I'm here to help you and your brother."

Romano glared at him. "And? I still don…t believe…you…"

"They're coming for you. They're on their way right now." Rizzo began tugging at the handcuffs on Romano's weak wrists.

Romano simply tutted, but it sounded more like a cough. "Stop…lying…these games…are bull…shit…"

Rizzo growled and stopped trying to help. He glared at the Italy before pulling out Russia's cell phone. Romano's eyes lit up. That specific phone was a type only nations received. It had the numbers of every member in their government and the leader of every country in the world, plus the numbers of the other countries. That cell phone was so advanced and special that they were never sold to the public. They were specifically for nations.

"How…how did…"

"Russia. I told them where you were and they're coming. Another nation took the phone and cried into it after I told them that I had seen you in person. He called you 'Lovi'."

"Spagna…" Romano cried. "I…remember you. You stared…at me and Feli…in pity…"

"I'm getting you out."

A shot rang out and blood splattered over the shocked Italian nation. The bullet managed to miss Romano as it flew pass, but Rizzo wasn't so lucky. Salvatore gasped and looked down at the gaping hole in his stomach.

"No…you are not."

Salvatore coughed up blood and collapsed. His face slowly turning to face Kohl and the General with a handful of other guards.

"_No! BASTARD!"_

The General slowly entered the room and stared down at the man. "Did you think that you would be able to get them out of here with my noticing? A traitor never goes unnoticed to me. I'm so disappointed in you Rizzo. You were such a magnificent soldier. Now you're nothing but a traitor. And a traitor needs to die a traitor's death."

The General raised his gun and shot Rizzo again and again before exiting. Romano stared at the dead form of Salvatore Rizzo. He had said that Toni was coming. He saved us.

"Thank you…" he whispered sadly.

* * *

><p><em>Miso is a type of Japanese soup. I have actually had a kind of miso. It's very good~ and very filling! it doesnt look it, but i was full for hours...granted i dont eat much anyway .<em>

_la Federazione Russa-Russian Federation in Italian...shame on you for not knowing that ^.^_

_"Алло?" -hello_

_"Mutter ficken! Gott verdammt, Westen! Was das bumsen?" -mother fucking! god damnit west! what the fuck?_

_So there it was. I hope it wasn't...to fast for some of you. *shrug* this was a hard chapter to write. I didn't have anything planned...except the end. I've been planning to kill Salvatore Rizzo since i first wrote him in...sorry AlTHR33...but i had that planned long before you said you wanted him alive...ur reply made me feel bad._

_What else...*thinks* Thank you to EVERYONE who posted. You all make me feel so freaking special~! I love you all~_

_Everyone seems to want a happy ending...so i guess i will be writing...whatever i feel like. ^.^ 80% of my brain says "HAPPYHAPPYHAPPYHAPPY!" so... who knows..._

_I'm predicting about 2 more chapters left! YAY! So much has happened and i thank you for everything. You have inspired me to keep writing something that i really only started with an idea (aka chapters 1-like 4) THANK YOU! SO MUCH! Keep up the AWESOMNESS!_


	11. It All Ends Here

_This is a loooooong chapter...like 7 pages on word. LOTS of stuff! It's the RESCUE PART! WOOOOO! ^(*.*)^ WOOT! Be excited! Sorry it took soooo long to post...it just...wasn't working for me. Any issues, i will fix RIGHT AWAY~ Just tell me^.^ I don't bite~...usually ._

_NOW! READ!_

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><p><strong>Chapter 11: It All Ends Here<strong>

The planes were moving so quickly that they had nearly an hour left, which left Ivan surprised that they had made it so far so quickly. He hadn't been prepared for such a short flight. Apparently America did know what he was doing. The Russian whipped out his phone a dialed the number for the phone currently in Salvatore Rizzo's possession. It rang and rang, but no answer was received. The nation shrugged it off, knowing that the spy was in dangerous territory and probably couldn't afford to pull out the nation cell phone. Instead, he focused on the life energy of every human in his land, trying to narrow it down to Rizzo's, which was slightly more strong since he had meet him personally.

He could faintly make out the life forces of the Italian nations, but they were so weak that it was nothing more than the twinkling of a single star on a bright summer's day.

It hadn't been more than ten minutes when the bright light leading him suddenly imploded into itself and was no more. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and cursed in Russian.

The Belarusian beside him snapped her head up and stared at him, her eyes burning. "What happened?" she asked in a commanding voice. The few nations around glanced their direction in curiosity and slight worry.

"He is no more." He stated matter of factly.

"What? What the fuck did you just say?" Prussia jumped to his feet and towered over the sitting Russian.

"I said, Prussia, that comrade Rizzo is no longer among the living, da. He has just been killed."

"Dude, what the fuck does that do to our plan?" America inquired. His Seal team seemed to be calculating a new plan and one spoke up.

"Sir, if I might suggest something?" America smiled and approached his group. "Whatcha got for me?"

"A simple use of the Four F's: Find, Fix, Flank and Finish."

"What the bloody hell does that mean?"

"We find the enemy, pin them down with fire power, send in ground soldiers, and eliminate the enemy combatants."

"So find the base, bomb the fuck out of them, and then we will go in swinging, and destroy everything in our way." America added in his own way.

"And what if we hit _them_? How the hell can we just open fire with our _own men down there!_"Prussia yelled.

Ivan watched in amusement for a while as they argued back and forth before he ignored them and focused intently on the north and south of Italy. He knew where he was going from Rizzo's last signals but he needed to see if the nations were on a specific side of their prison.

A smile came to his lips as he realized that they were both in separate rooms but in the northeast corner of the compound. "It will work, da."

The arguing ceased and Prussia rounded on him again. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"They are both located in the northeast corner of the compound. We are nearly there. I suggest we being preparations, da?"

"Ha ha ha! This is totally exciting! NOW!" the American's voice seemed to change from that of an overly excited boy to the superpower he truly was as he addressed his team; the best America had. "This is a rescue mission! Let's get are asses in gear, get our shit together and get them out of there!"

* * *

><p>Lovino opened his eyes again to the dead body before him. It hadn't been long since the Italian had been murdered, but he was already starting to smell. South Italy gagged as the decaying flesh reached his nose making his head pound. The sound reverberated through his skull and he couldn't think. It sounded so freaking loud!<p>

In his delusional state, he saw bits of debris fall from the ceiling. Faint explosions were heard around him, but he failed to comprehend the truth before him. Too many dreams of being rescued clouded his better judgment. A loud shout near his cell door brought his attention snapping back to reality as he realized that his mind was not playing tricks on him, but he truly was being rescued.

_BOMBS! It's Spain! Antonio did come for me._

The door burst open as guards rushed in screaming a mixture of random languages to each other in fear. They haphazardly removed his shackles and roughly hauled his weak form out of the room and down the hall.

The chaos was more extensive the further through the compound they traveled. People were screaming and shouting in languages that clashed with the explosions and gun fire from the nations outside. More guards joined them carrying Feliciano.

His eyes found his brother and they automatically released tears.

They were going to be saved…hopefully they could stay alive long enough.

* * *

><p>"Alfred, what the bloody hell are you doing!"<p>

The nations split into groups and headed on to the ground for the hand to hand assault and recovery of their fellow nations. Armed with various guns and other weapons, they charged into the building. The initial attack left the building close to shambles. Enemies were pouring out of the debris fighting with everything they had. America took off into the building, blasting at any human he passed.

A man jumped in front of him with a six inch long knife and swiped. The nation dodged and shot his arm into the back of the man's leg. A loud snap filled the hallway as his leg was shattered by the sheer force of America. His screams were deafening, but he swung around and aimed at Alfred again with all his strength. Not prepared by the second attack, Alfred didn't dive out of the way fast enough and the knife easily slid into his arm.

"Fuck!" He screamed before a shot rang out and the man fell dead. Antonio stood behind the fallen enemy, a look of pure anger on his face.

"You ok, America?"

Alfred blinked. The Spaniard's face changed from rage to concern in a blink of an eye. "Fine..."

"Good, then let's kill these bastards." He offered a hand, which America took and the two ran off further into the building towards the northeast corner.

* * *

><p>Ludwig easily fired three head shots, taking the lives of the soldiers he targeted. Beside him, Gilbert was attacking with everything he had; Knives, guns, his own bare hands, anything to get Feliciano back.<p>

A forced knocked into him, causing him to fall and drop his gun. His head hit the ground with a thud and his vision swam. He didn't recognize the gun pointed to his head until it was kicked sideways off of him. Above him Gilbert jumped over his brother and practically ripped the gun, and arm, out of the assailant before snapping his neck sideways. Red eyes met blue as Gilbert walked back over to his brother and offered a hand.

"America and Toni went into the building. So did Russia, England, Japan and France. Everyone is staying out here in case…" he shook his head. Anyway, let's not let those bastards kill everyone without us."

Ludwig grunted and took the hand. Once standing, they took off together for the building.

* * *

><p>Outside, the countries in the planes were under rapid fire. A huge casing of armor piercing bullets was fired at the nearest plane, hitting the pilots with accurate precision. Estonia heard the gunfire, having been just outside the cockpit and wretched the door open.<p>

Lights were flashing with alarms sounding. Estonia burst into the room and began checking every flashing button for the problem. His eyes went wide as he was that all controls had been severed by the gunfire. Just as Latvia came running in asking what was wrong, four bombs randomly directed at the building went off together hit their targets.

* * *

><p>Romano wasn't quite sure where they were being dragged off to or how long they had been traveling. Everything was passing in a haze. Everyone looked the same. All the sounds meshed together to indescribable chaos in his mind. He couldn't decipher the difference between the explosions from the building being ripped apart and the pounding of the blood passing through his swollen head.<p>

He was sure that any minute he would just pass out and never wake up again. He was truly seconds away from death.

The southern nation of Italy heard the wall being torn apart, felt the percussion send him flying through the air and slamming into the wall, but it wasn't registering what was happening. His eyes instinctively shut. His mind was ripped into nothing. Silence. Blackness.

* * *

><p>Antonio was running faster than he had ever run before, turning every corner faster than the one before it. America managed to keep up with his incredibly fast rate impressively. It was to be expected from a world superpower though.<p>

Behind them there was a shout and both nations slammed to a stop, whipping around to the source of the noise. Russia, England, Japan, France, Germany and Prussia were running up behind them. When the nations caught up, they took off again down the hall before skidding to a halt. Russia, peered into a room that was blown open.

"Italy Romano was in this room, but he is no longer here. In a panic, they have dragged them away."

"Where?"

"I…cannot tell."

Just as England was about to argue, three soldiers ran ahead of them in retreat. The gentleman retrieved his gun and fired. Two fell dead while the third screamed and clutched his knee in agony. Smirking, the ex-pirate approached the wounded human, grabbed his collar and slammed him against the wall.

"Where the bloody hell are the nations?"

"Please, I'll tell you…just don't kill me!" The man pleaded. England rolled his eyes. "Fine…I'll spare you if you tell us."

The man didn't seem entirely convinced, but decided to talk anyway. "They're taking them out the south corner of the building t-to a containment truck." England smiled. "You're sure?"

"Y-yes! Of course!"

Arthur Kirkland glanced back at his fellow nations before grabbing a hidden knife from his boots and sliding it into the man's skull. He whipped the blood on his pant leg as he stood. "Let's go the." They sprinted down the halls again.

As they turned a fifth corner, the whole compound shook and they almost lost their footing as the compound was torn apart.

"Bloody fucking hell!"

"Sacrebleu!"

The ceiling collapsed, separating the group. Russia, Germany and China glanced back at their fellow countries, now blocked by a few tons of debris.

Spain shook his head, "Keep going! Don't let them leave! We'll catch up!"

"Oui! Do not worry about us! Save the Italiens!"

The three nodded and continued running. They came to the end of the hallway and peered to their left and right and found that both choices were blocked by the walls and ceiling that had crumbled. Russia gasped and took off about twenty feet into the left hall before stopping and desperately removing the rubble. Germany and China ran over and saw that trapped underneath was Lovino.

* * *

><p>It was relaxing where he was. There was no fear of death. No fear of any more torture. No aches or pains; just pure numbness, which felt glorious after being kidnapped and tortured for the past month.<p>

A sudden jerk through his whole body made him gasp as his lungs were shocked into movement. Slowly and unwilling to come back to earth, his eyes opened. A huge blur was before him, shaking his body and just…holding him. It was…strange. He saw two other blurs on either side of the other.

His tired eyes began to sluggishly bring his world into focus. The blur shaking him, a familiar looking man that Lovino couldn't quite place, had a long coat and a piece of material wrapped around his neck…a sciarpa his mind told him. The man in front of him seemed to be speaking, but his words were a jumbled mess in Lovino's ears.

His eyebrows furrowed over his glazed hazel eyes. The other two blurs, also men, one with long black hair pulled back and the other with incredible blue eyes, seemed to be yelling something similar and important. The Italian's mind was spinning. He couldn't comprehend what they were saying or even who they were.

"-ther? Romano! Snap out of it! Where is your brother?"

_Bro-ther? Brother? _His mind translated it: fratello. He gasped. _Feliciano!_ His eyes grew wide in recognition as he saw Russia, Germany and China desperately looking at him. Where was Feliciano? His head painfully turned to his right towards the rubble. _Mio Dio!_

* * *

><p>Ludwig immediately ran over to the other side of the hall and began throwing the rubble aside to fine his love. He found the corpses of dead soldiers and cursed before noticing that there was a leg sticking out that had on familiar looking shoes. He removed that, thankfully , light concrete and saw Feliciano.<p>

"Italian! Oh Gott!" he clung to the limp form of the Italian and cried the salty tears that he thought were done. His hands traveled through the younger male's dirty hair and his lips graced the Italian's forehead. "I'm so sorry, Liebling! Mein Gott! Ich liebe dich…"

The other countries came around the corner to the scene before them. Spain rushed to Romano's side, pushing Russia and China roughly out of the way. "Lovino! Mio tomate! Gracias a Dios, gracias a Dios, gracias a Dios…"

Lovino's eyes widened at Spain. "S-sp-ain!" He weakly clung to the Spaniard, who in turn openly wept as he was reunited with his love again.

Ivan took over from there. "Germany, Japan, get Italy out of here and to a medical station immediately, da. Spain, France, you both be taking Romano. The rest shall be eliminating building and enemies."

The groups split again, the four taking the Italies to the nearest airplane and back to base for immediate medical attention, while the rest made damn sure that there were no survivors.

Back in the main offices, Switzerland and Hungary were grabbing files and computers to take back and analyze later. After they both had taken as much as they could carry, they ran out of the room and towards the main doors, firing at anyone who got in their way.

As they rushed towards the air craft, Switzerland removed his phone and dialed Ivan.

"We're done."

He hung up and helped get Hungary in before noticing that they weren't alone. Germany and the others were there huddled around the Italy brothers. Hungary ran over, tears of joy flooding her face while Switzerland hung back a little. Vash took in the state of the boys and had to take a deep breath. He had been disappointed that he wasn't to be in the main skirmish, but now he was more pleased that he had given up the gun fight to steal the documents and files. At least with this, he could find out what the hell those bastards did to them and what they planned to do with the rest of the nations.

The plane pulled away and took its course back to their base and after only one minute after Vash's call, explosions were heard as the building became no more.

* * *

><p><em>And now...onto RECOVERY! YAY! I'm sorry if this didn't work as you hoped...but i fail at war and stuff...make me sad face that i fail so bad, but oh well...<em>

_REVIEW...i still say it...even though i KNOW you will anyway..._

_my prediction is...maybe one more chapter...depending on if i can squeeze the recovrey in that...maaaayyybe two...*shrug* it all depends on how i feel when i type/write it~_

_BE EXCITED WITH ME!_


	12. GAH! IM SO SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!

_Meh...PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!_

_I'm doing this to update you~~~ *hugs*_

_*Offers peace teaty and PASTA~~*_

_Now, i have been WORKING MY ASS off with school. I am SOO FUCKiNG SORRY!_

_One month goes by way to fucking fast for me ._

_It will be a month on...um...Friday? egh...sorry_

_I thought i would be able to shit it out in a week...oops...what a lie to myself._

_Seriously though...i am working on it! I have inspiration and i have it half? done... i still am not sure if i want 1 or 2 more chapters...it all depends on how rushed i make it seem...it might be two more..._

_with what i have written...and what i still _want_ to write..._

_*SIgH*_

_too much work...school should die so i can write for all of you~~~_

_the next chapter SHOULD be up in...a...couple...days...i hope...DONT KILL ME!_

_*hides behind Italy*_

_Ve..._

_again...sorry...and thanks for sticking with me~ love you all~~~_

_-REV_


	13. I'm Alive

_I AM SO SORRY FOR THE MISCOMMUNICATION THING I CAUSED! THIS IS THE NEXT CHAPTER! REALLY! DOnt kill me *hides* it's short...but it was a good stopping point._

* * *

><p>The deafening silence of the room was unnerving...especially when taken into consideration who was held within.<p>

Ludwig was not yelling. Antonio was not smiling. Alfred was not laughing. Arthur was not scolding. France was not perving. Gilbert was not cracking jokes. Vash was not shooting his guns.

None of the countries dared to speak or even breath too loudly

It had been over twelve excruciating hours since they had arrived at the safe house and the Italies had been whisked away for immediate surgery. Updates on their current conditions had yet to be released.

After the events that had taken place, every world leader immediately made it mandatory that their representatives be sent to the safe house, which was hidden within an undisclosed location; only known by a select few. Only the most trusted of each nation was sent to meet them there.

The house itself was more of a 'hotel turned base', with only a few levels ground level and many more beneath. It was crucial that it not only be surrounded by natural defenses, such as forest and mountains, but that the representatives themselves be held underground and thus safe from any attacks. The top two levels are designed to seem like a typical military base while the underground levels are meant for comfort, storage and safety. With two full levels of stored basic needs, the rest are ordered by country position until the bottom levels which are dedicated to hospital needs.

Each country level is decided on where the country is placed, such as Asian, Middle Eastern and the Americas (which would also include Cuba and such). The levels are meant to keep the countries as calm and relaxed as they could be in intense situations.

Ludwig scuffed at the idea. Humans really were naïve at times. Keeping the personification safe was only _half_ the issue! Sure, the country had a better chance of surviving if the representatives were safe, but when the land or trade routes were attacked…then it didn't matter if they were 'safe' or out there surrounded by the carnage. They would still be affected. Hell, even if nothing was happening to that country…they would still be affected by the conditions of their fellow nations…like right now.

The German man felt…hollow. His tear ducts had long run dry. His uniform was dirty and unwashed from the battle. His heart…well that was ripped beyond repair. Only one person could slowly kiss the torn chunks of flesh back together and he was currently fighting for his life.

It angered the nation that there was no news on his beloved. 12. Hours. HOURS! And NOTHING from the fucking doctors on their conditions. During the long wait, countries came and went. Only a few had actually stayed the entire time, Antonio, France and Gilbert being a few. The others were constantly leaving for sleep, nourishment and getting into contact with their bosses. Something Ludwig had yet to do. He knew the man was back in his office demanding to speak to Ludwig, but every time the phone was offered he declined and said he would not speak to the man until Feliciano was ok.

Six more hours before a doctor entered the room.

The human gazed at the disgruntled nations. It was Alfred who looked up.

"How are they?"

The human sighed. "Italy Veneziano is still in surgery." He paused. "Italy Romano's just completed and he has been sent to recovery. At the time, as I'm sure you know, only one can stay with him until we move him to his room."

Slowly the Spanish nation stood and walked over to the doctor. The human placed a comforting hand onto his shoulder and nodded encouragingly.

"The surgery went well. There is nothing to fear." Spain halfheartedly smiled. They both turned to leave.

"Wait!"

The doctor glanced back at the disheartened German and sighed. "Mr. Germany, I know what you're going to ask. As far as I know, Italy Veneziano's surgery is going smoothly…it's just that…there was so much damage. I'm not sure how much longer it will go on." With that he turned and left with the Spaniard in tow.

* * *

><p>Antonio's stomach clenched at the sight of Lovino. He was bandaged on many places on his body, manly his torso and arms. His right hand was in a cast and his overall appearance was…sickly and sunken in. What skin that was visible was thin and almost transparent looking. His bones were almost popping through their skin casing. His face was sunken and his eyelids seemed hollow.<p>

The machines beside him measured a steady heart rate. A chair was brought beside the bed by the doctor.

"His vitals were in horrible condition when we got him. His nourishment has been, from the looks of it, nonexistent, which isn't surprising. His right hand was…mangled. The bone fractures and breakages show that it was…smashed or something. It tried healing, but incorrectly. We've realigned the bones and they should heal correctly now. He had multiple cuts, some almost as if from a whip that went pretty deep. Slight infection had taken ahold, but nothing _too_ serious. We've managed to fix most of them up pretty decently. We have him started in multiple medications and he will _need _to stay bedridden for at least a month…and that's depending on how the country fairs."

"How…how is this going to affect-"

"I wish I knew, Mr. Spain. I would assume, from the _proper_ studying of your kind, that what we've done-and still _are_ doing- will greatly affect the land positively. Now, it's just up to the land and government to fix themselves. Then there's eliminating the…_filth_ from the governments so anything that they did will be destroyed for good." Antonio smiled. This man clearly didn't agree with that organization.

"Gracias."

The man nodded and left him to be with his love.

Spain let out a huge sigh and gripped the Italian's hand.

"Lovi…I'm not sure if you can hear me…probably not, but i…I still feel that i…need to apologize. I…should have been there. I should have…" He groaned. "I wasn't there…and I was almost too late to save you in the end."

A small smile graced his lips. "I'm so happy your alive, Lovi. Everything's going to get better. Now that your safe and with loved ones."

He chuckled for the first time in weeks. "Te amo, mio tomate~! I have missed everything about you. Even your…vocabulary." He noticed the nonexistent curl. "It is so weird seeing you without your trademark mystery. I remember when I found out about it. That was the first night we made love. And it had been you who started it all. That was the first night I _knew_ you loved me back." He chuckled again. "Oh, how much I've missed you my sweet, sweet tomate."

His eyes hardened slightly.

"Those bastards will pay for this…if there are any survivors, I will hunt them down and kill them myself. My axe will slice through every single one of their spines and their heads will be placed on display so everyone will know that you can't touch my Lovi without consequence. And then that bastard. That…_man _that caused all of this. He will know every ounce of pain that you and little Ita have felt twice over! He will sufferer so greatly by my hands that there will be nothing left of him when he goes down to face El Diablo."

He chuckled and shook such thoughts away. No was not the time for revenge, but for celebration. His Lovino was alive!

It was also a time for prayer. "Lovi…if you _can_ hear me…you need to pray with me for your hermano. Little Ita is still in there…he's still fighting for his life." He removed his rosary from his neck and grasped it between his and Romano's limp hand. He brought both up to his lips before placing a gentle kiss. His prayers began.

* * *

><p>Hours passed by, before Lovino was moved to the room him and his brother would be sharing. A handful of other countries were allowed to see the Italian, but Germany remained where he was in the waiting room…as still as a statue.<p>

He jerked up when a smiling doctor gently placed a hand on his limp shoulder, awakening him from his unplanned nap.

"Mr. Germany, the surgery has finally completed. He's being moved to the recovery room. You can come see him now."

Ludwig blinked as the information slowly processed him his bogged down brain. Then it clicked and he jerked up as the doctor led him to Feliciano.

"Like his brother, Italy Veneziano's health was deteriorating. The only reason he is still alive is due _to the _fact that he is a nation. Had he been a human, he would have perished within a few days after receiving the…treatment that he did."

"Being malnourished left his body weak and fragile. His body was overtaken by what seemed to be a 'fever', which _is_ what it was, but in the case of his nationhood, it was more of a…self-defense or self-preservation _for _and _because of _the land he is connected to."

"Does that mean it was _less_ deadly then a typical fever?"

The man thought. "Well, no. Had we not found him when we did, he would have died in a about a week. He spent too long in the fever-like comatose, not to mention his southern half was in equally bad shape. Had they _both_ not been in the same situation, then things would be different. Such as they would be, for lack of a better term, 'feeding' off each other to stay alive. But they were both critically injured and haven't been much good to each other."

"I…see."

They reached the room and Ludwig's eyes feel upon his beloved. The tubes that connected his flesh to the machines keeping him alive, the gauze that covered his beautiful skin…all of this made Ludwig bite back tears. None of this was right. Nothing in this setting seemed to be real. Feliciano was too innocent, too beautiful, to be connected to all of those t_hings_ in a place like this just to stay alive. He belonged in his home in Italy, making pasta and painting. Not this. Anything but this.

The doctor cleared his throat. "In a few hours, he will be moved into the room with Italy Romano, who should be waking up in a few hours."

"Thanks you, sir."

The man smiled and left.

Ludwig walked over to the chair beside the bed where the Italian lay. He released his tears.

"Leibling…please come back to me. Your Doitsu saved you. You have to come back to him. I know it was too late, but…you're still here. Your brother is alright also. He's going to need you too. You have a lot of friends and…" he thought of France and grimaced. "…family that need you. You're…loved."

He grabbed Feliciano's hand. "I'm here for you now. Nothing is ever going to happen to you…I promise. I won't let it. I will protect you…and…even your brother, if he lets me." He mentally rolled his eyes. "I promise to have pasta waiting for you the moment you open those mystifying amber eyes" He slightly laughed to himself.

"I never told you, but…your eyes are so…innocent and beautiful that…I get lost in them every time. There is never a time I can't give into you once I those eyes pierce into my soul…like they did the first time I ever met you during World War I. I…I really should tell you this more…I love you. Ich leibe dich. You are, forever, my love."

With that he kissed Italy's hand, held it tightly, and allowed himself to sleep beside his Italian.

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><p><em>Sorry its short. But its a good stopping point.<em>

_Was it worth the wait? (and the freakout/heartattack i caused?) oops...again. Well...here it is. One more...ah fuck it. WHo knows. One. Two. Three? Whatever...i shall know it when i know it and when i know it so shall you~~~~~~~~_

_Next chapter is LOVINO~~~! ! He awakens...*heart*_

_REVIEW~~_


	14. Open Up Your Eyes Part 1

**I know...i'm reeeaaalllly early with this~ *pats back* good job Nikki~ Now this is a REAALLLLY long chapter...at least to me it is...*sigh* Are we all ready for flashbacks? LAWL~~~**

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><p><em>The lovely scent of nature filled his nostrils with its sweet, sweet scent. His eyes happily stared around the whiteness, not bothered at all by the over intensity of the light. It was calm here. A lot calmer then it had been when he was alive. Wait? Was he dead? Or just sleeping? <em>

_His brows creased and he huffed in confusion. He recalled seeing …people before his world had turned black for a second time that day. Damn. Why did this have to be so freaking confusing? _

_Groaning, he rolled his eyes and settled on the fact that he was dead. It was easier that way…although it would have been nice to see Antonio again. He sighed and decided to forget about his current predicament and focus on his surroundings. _

_…which were white. No matter where he looked. There were no barriers that represented walls or a ceiling. The only proof of a floor was where he sat cross-legged. There was nothing but that smell of happiness and love. Of tomatoes. God how he loved tomatoes. Nice and fresh and juicy...straight from the earth._

_Somehow though…this place was familiar. Like he had been here before but just forgot about it. Then again…he was a very old nation. Maybe he _had_ been here before…just not alone…_

_Almost on cue, the scent of freshly cooked pasta invaded his tomato scent. He turned his head and saw his fratello approaching him from the darkness._

_"Ciao Lovi~!"_

_"Ciao…"_

_Feliciano smiled as he approached and sat beside him on what was supposed to be the ground. "What are you doing here, Lovi?" Lovino blinked at his brother. "Why wouldn't I be here?"_

_Feliciano giggled. "This is where we go to _heal,_ fratello. I can't believe you've forgotten! I can sense the change in our energy…so I guess they found us. You should be better off now."_

_Lovino scowled. "You mean I'm still alive?"_

_Feliciano nodded. "Well fuck." His brother giggled again. "And you should be well enough to leave this place…" His smile faltered slightly. "I can't yet…"_

_"Why?"_

_"I'm not done healing…"_

_Lovino sighed and wrapped a comforting arm around his younger sibling. "I remember…is this where you've been?" Feli nodded. "It's where I came to save my energy. I can't believe you've forgotten!"_

_"Jesus, Feli! I forget one little thing that doesn't even _mean_ that much to me since I don't _come_ here that often!" He jokingly argued. "How the hell did _you _remember?"_

_Feliciano shrugged. "I didn't at first…but the longer you're here I guess the more you just…know." Lovino snorted. "See? You didn't remember either." Feliciano giggled at his brother and embraced him tightly._

_"If I'm right, then you can will yourself back…where Toni's probably waiting for you." He nodded. His brother was right. He could feel that his body was going to wake up._

_"OH! And Lovi…can you tell them…that I'll be there shortly?"_

Like the first breath one takes at birth, Lovino felt himself jerk awake in his physical body. Confusion settled in first at the strange yet constant beeping noise before he realized that he was in a proper hospital. He heard low murmuring around him and slowly opened his eyes. The light struck his pupils and he groaned, slamming them shut.

Immediately the talking stopped and rushing footsteps approached his bed.

"Lovi!" a hand gripped his uncased one. A smile pulled at Lovino's lips as he opened his mouth to talk. His throat was dry and sore from the tube he'd had placed down it, but words were formed.

"Toni…it's…about time…bastard." The Spaniard chuckled as Lovino opened his eyes slowly and almost wept at the beautiful sight before him. Antonio. Lovino slowly shimmied closer to the other man, who noticed this and leaned into over the bed, planting a sweet kiss onto his forehead.

And chuckled from the foot of the bed released the hypnotic pull from the two lovers and onto the third party.

Francis' grin was clearly defined as he stared at the two. "I shall go get the doctor, non? I am glad you are awake, Romano." With that, he nodded and made his way out to the nurses' station.

Lovino's eyes traveled back to his love, who met his gaze and planted a loving kiss upon his lips. When they broke, he smiled happily at the Italian. "It has been too long." He frowned and became serious. "I'm sorry I wasn't there earlier. I…might have been able to…"

"Spain…there was nothing you could have done. If you had been there they would have just knocked you out and left you there."

"But I could have tried to stop them from getting you both…or I could have been with you when they had you."

"If i had been there is could have helped you...protected you. I would have taken all the pain for you both-"

"You couldn't have. They wouldn't have taken you. You're too strong..."

Spain's brows furrowed. Did that mean that... "What?"

Lovino's bottom lip slightly trembled. "T-they...just wanted us...as...test sub...jects..." Antonio's eyes hardened and his muscles tensed.

"They took you as fucking rats? Are you fucking kidding me?" He was fuming now. Lovino slightly jerked back in fear. When Antonio became overly angry, he had the potential to go into conquistador mode, which was dangerous.

"I will kill them! If any still live, i will hunt them down and rip their fucking hearts out with my bare hands! I swear to you!"

"Spain..."

"That bastard! Que arder en el infierno por esto!" _(something about sending him to hell...google translate, so dont blame me for mistakes)_

"Antonio!" The men didn't hear him and continued ranting in his native tongue.

"Bastard! Stop!" Lovino was sitting up now, his emotions etched directly onto his face. Tears freely falling down his face. His chest fell at an overly high rate and he fell back onto the pillow, comepletly exhausted. Antonio stared at him, guilt building within him.

"Lovi...I'm sorry...I'm sorry." He approached and embraced him within a hug. "I shouldnt have lost it. I'm sorry. What's important now is that you're here...and that you're safe…but there are any alive, I will still destroy them."

"Any alive?" the Italian blinked.

"We blew up the base when we rescued you both and killed many in the process. Once we had you both safe and Switzerland had gathered enough information and paperwork, we destroyed it."

Lovino was taken aback before memories started to slowly ooze back into his mind. _Oh! Right…_

"You did all that…for me?"

Toni smiled. "I would do anything for you."

Lovino scoffed. "Dumbass..." Spain chuckled. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, bastard. Ti amo."

A smile appeared on Antonio's face as he gently snuggled into his Italian love. "I love you too, mio tomate~!"

The door opened and the doctor entered with France in tow.

"Mr. Italy Romano, glad you're awake. How do you feel?"

"Like shit."

"That's expected. Now I'm going to perform a few tests and ask some questions."

Throughout the testing, all Antonio could think of was how beautiful his little Italian looked. It didn't matter what had happened. What mattered was right now. Romano was on the mend and nothing would ever happen to him ever again.

* * *

><p>After everything was proven to be normal and the doctor allowed it, a handful of nations were allowed in to see him. Antonio refused to leave his side as other countries like England and Switzerland questioned him.<p>

"We read in his research something about 'a special method of questioning.' What does that mean? What did he do?"

Lovino sighed. Dammit…the one thing he's vague on…"I…I really don't remember. Whatever it was, it was fucked up. He questioned Fratello first and I don't remember anything if he questioned me. It was fucked up though…so fucked up."

"Bloody hell…" England placed one hand to his forehead. "What we read is that he was curious about our healing abilities, our connections to the land and to each other…I guess, from what I read in later notes, we weren't what he expected. You two proved him wrong so many times, but he still kept bloody trying! Are you sure you can't remember anything?"

The Italian groaned and let his head fall back into the pillow. "Jesus, I don't fucking know, tea bastard! Here's an idea, why don't we fucking switch places!"

"Lovi…calm down…" Spain rubbed his troubled love's back.

"Fuck you…"

"Romano…"

"What?" The Englishman sighed. "We need to know what he found out. Not all of his personal journals were recovered and…we have yet to find his body in the wreckage of the base."

Lovino's head snapped up. "WHAT!"

"It doesn't mean he isn't there…we made sure no one got away, but…just to be safe. We _need _to know how much information on us is out there."

Lovino muttered unintelligible Italian before closing his eyes and focusing on anything and everything from his memories of captivity.

* * *

><p><em>Lovino ran into the kitchen and found his brother on his knees, gripping his bleeding arm. "What's happening?"<em>

_"We're under attack." Feliciano gaped at him. "Wh-what?"_

_"Feli, just listen to me, I have a pistol in the first drawer in nightstand on my side of the bed. It's from my mafia days. Go get it."_

_Feliciano just stared at him. "Please, fratello, just do me this favor and get the gun. I need to stay down here and look out for the army in case they come this way." Feliciano slowly nodded and left for the stairs without any arguing. _

_Lovino let out a sigh of relief. He walked over to the boiling pot of pasta and turned the stove off. Reaching down, he lifted his shirt and adjusted the gun that was in his pants to make it less noticeable, then headed for the stairs._

* * *

><p><em>"Tell me, when harm comes to your land, it affects you correct?"<em>

_"Go to hell!"_

_"If your people come down with a disease, that also affects you?"_

_"Fuck off!"_

* * *

><p><em>Lovino lightly rubbed his sick brother's back. He knew it was in vain, but it was the only thing he could do for his little brother.<em>

_"Jesus…Feli, are you ok now?"_

_The response he received was only a tiny whimper._

_"Fuckin…Jesus. Can you move?"_

_A slight nod._

_"Ok." Lovino carefully lifter Feliciano onto his knees. He then moved his body a little to his right and turned Feli's body so his back was against the wall. Then he slid his legs out from underneath him and laid them straight. Feliciano's head slid onto Lovino's shoulder after he, himself, got comfortable. He took a deep breath, held it for a moment and released it in one big puff of air. He figured now was the time to ask._

_"Feli?"_

_"Humph?"_

_"What…what did you tell him…about us?"_

_"Wa?"_

_"When they took you and…injected you with that…stuff, what did he ask and what did you say?"_

_"…"_

_"Feli?"_

_"Idnowaurtalknbout."_

_He gaped at his little brother. "Are you fucking serious? You don't remember getting taken away? Getting injected with that truth stuff? Any of it?"_

_This time Feliciano looked at his brother and gaped. "Wha?" Lovino blinked. "I-I-" What did he remember? "I…was…taken…an…I…" Images of room flooded his consciousness, a hard chair, tightness in his wrists..."I can't remember!" He whimpered._

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><p><em>Lovino threw the brick away from him to the opposite corner of the cell and whimpered. He began halfheartedly beating the floor with his fists. "God dammit! Antonio! Where the fucking hell are you? God…please…I fucking need you! I love you goddammit! I…FUCKING…LOVE YOU!" he collapsed into a fit of tears, finally letting everything he'd held bottled inside out.<em>

* * *

><p><em>"'Carried away'? You got fucking 'carried away'? You fucking burnt my brother to a fucking inch of his life! You mother fucker! I swear to God that I am going to fucking kill you! I'm gonna put a mother fucking bullet into you fucking brain! You are going to wish that you had picked a different fucking country to invade! I swear-"<em>

_His head met the stone again and he blacked out to the laughter of the solders._

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><p><em>An electrical sound was heard that made Lovino freeze in fear. Feliciano's eyes shot open in pain and he screamed as the current passed through his nervous system.<em>

_"Stop! Please! Bastard! Stop!" Playing deaf to his pleads; the man continued his electrical attack on Italy._

_"Fucking Bastard! Stop! Yes! Yes! Ok? Yes…just…please stop…ok…yes…"_

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><p><em>"This is such a better reaction! I was afraid that both of you would try to hide your pain from me, but you…you scream so well and we haven't even made it to the fun stuff yet! This was only a light beating."<em>

**_This isn't my memory…_**

_"P-please…please s-stop." Feliciano pleaded; his eyes wet and bloodshot from his tears. The general smiled and backhanded him. Feliciano yelped. _

_"The only sounds I want to hear coming from your mouth are screams. Your quest to reason with me is futile."_

**_Oh God…Fratello…this is what they did to you?_**

_Somewhere deep in his bond with his country, he felt Lovino's presence. He focused all his strength on his brother, trying to leave this horrible place. He knew Lovino felt his pain…even if it was more of a killer migraine compared to what pain was actually being caused, but it was still there. He had felt the same thing when Lovino had been taken. Please…Lovino…_

**_I had felt that pain…oh my sweet, sweet baby brother…I am so sorry…mi dispiace…_**

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><p><em>Feliciano couldn't will his legs to move. His brother fought to get free of their grasps, but couldn't. They were dragging him to an armored car. Their house was beside them…burning. He himself barley managed to escape from their room's balcony in time. Now his brother was caught. He had to do something.<em>

_"Fratello!" _

* * *

><p><em>"What is your name?"<em>

_"Feliciano Vargas."_

_"And that is your…human alias?"_

_"Um…I guess you could say that. It just sounds funny." He giggled. Wow…he felt reeaaaallllly loopy. "I am Feliciano as a human, but I'm also Italy as a country. Yep, Italy Veneziano. The Northern Half of the Repubblica Italiana."_

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><p><em>"Lovino…is your 'brother'"<em>

_"Vee~! Yep! Lovino Vargas…aka Italy Romano. The southern half of Italy."_

_"What does the 'Veneziano' and 'Romano' mean? Are they just names used to separate you both?"_

_"Weeeeeeeell, I have Venice, so 'Veneziano' distinguishes me as the northern half who has Venice in it…and Lovino has Rome…so…ya. I really don't understand it. Grandpa Rome didn't really understand it either-"_

_"Who?"_

_"Huh? Oh, Grandpa Rome. He was the Great Roman Empire…he died."_

_"How?"_

_"He just…faded away one day._

* * *

><p><em>"How are you born?"<em>

* * *

><p><em> "Do you think he will come and save you?"<em>

* * *

><p>Lovino's entire body jerked as he left the realm of his mind and back into the world. He couldn't breathe. He remembered when Feliciano told him what they did, but…that was just too much. <em>Why couldn't it have been me? Why did <em>he_ have to go through that? Feli isn't strong enough…no wonder he isn't back yet._

"Lovi? Oh, Lovi…" A warmth encased him in love and it wasn't until the body hugging him wiped at his eyes that he realized he was crying.

His eyes slowly opened to a worried Antonio. It only caused him to cry harder. "My sweet, you've been lying there for over a half hour…"

Oh…

"What did you see? Anything?" Switzerland inquired; it was his way of showing concern.

"I-It was horrible. I saw…my m-memories…and _his. _Dio mio…fratello…so much pain. I…I didn't know."

"Did you see anything from the questioning?"

Lovino nodded. "He asked…about how we're born…if we we're human or not, what our human names mean…why me and my brother are _both _Italy…if hurting the land hurts us and if we hurt the land…"

"Did either of you answer him?"

_Feliciano giggled. Wow…he felt reeaaaallllly loopy._

_ FELICIANO!_

Slowly, the southern Italian nodded, refusing to look into any of their eyes. The other nations groaned. Lovino felt horrible. He focused his eyes on the plan blankets that covered his crippled body. He had betrayed his fellow nations to a mad man. Not only that, but he let his little fratello get hurt. How could he forgive himself for that?

"It doesn't matter." Spain broke the silence, glaring daggers at the others. "They did what they did and that is the end of it. Now…I think we're done with the questioning. Please let the doctor know that it is ok to bring Ita in here now that Lovi is awake."

No one questioned him and left silently. Antonio silently held onto his love, whispering calming Spanish to him. All Lovino could do was blame himself.

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><p><em>There is is...lawl...i like. dont worry...about anything. just...dont. it will end well...i think. <em>

_REVIEW_


	15. Open Up Your Eyes Part 2

_**YAY! no...this is NOT the end...yet...well, technically it is, but there will be a conclusion chapter some years later to sum up the whole story. Here is the last 'real' chapter. Thank you to everyone that had made this story amazing and thank you to everyone who stuck with me till the end. Thank you so much for dealing with the...short *coughmothlycough* delays *shot* between stories. I love you all SOO MUCH!**_

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><p>Lovino smiled as his conscience mind started coming to. There was this beautiful sound, reverberating from nearby. It entered his ears and calmed his mind. He let out a sigh of contentment and repositioned his body slightly. This caused the sound to stop, much to Lovino's displeasure, and the person to lightly clear their throat.<p>

The southern Italians eyebrows creased slightly. "You stopped…" he tiredly mumbled.

"I'm sorry to have woken you." Lovino chuckled before opening his eyes. Hazel met azure as he looked at the German sitting between him and his brother, who they had moved into the room not long after the others had left.

"It's not a bad thing…it was pretty. What were you humming?"

"Dat du Mien Leevsten Bust…Feliciano heard me singing it once and has asked me to sing it to him so many times…"

Lovino nodded. That sounded like his brother. "You really love him don't you, Germany."

The German sent him a slightly confused glance before nodding. "I love your brother so much. The past month has been hell." It was true. It didn't take much to convince him that Germany was telling the truth. His hair was unkempt and everywhere while his eyes were bloodshot and surrounded by dark circles. He looked like he'd been through hell.

"For you and me both…" he muttered. Germany once again sent him a curious gaze, as if surprised the foul-mouthed Italian could remain civilized with him for so long. After a few moments of silence, the German nation went back to humming his song while Lovino listened in contentment.

"Where's Antonio?"

"France took him home for the night for some proper rest. He more like dragged the man out…Spain hasn't left your side for more than a few moments since you were released from surgery."

"Oh…" He thought on this for a moment. Spain hadn't left him. He had to be _dragged_ out for some proper rest. "And you?"

"Was?"

"I take it you haven't left fratello's side since he came out." Germany shook his head. "I have been by his side since the doctor allowed it."

A moment of silence. "You're a good man…" Germany stared at him like he'd grown an extra limb. "B-bastard! Stop staring! I can be nice if I want to!" He crossed his arms and frowned as red tinted his cheeks. Germany chuckled at this. "Is this your permission to be dating your brother?"

Lovino pffted but remained silent. Germany chuckled again and went back to humming, pleased that this experience had possibly changed the Italian for the better.

* * *

><p>The slow humming continued long after Lovino had fallen back asleep. Ludwig just sat there, holding Feliciano's hand. According to Lovino's last words before unconsciousness took him, Feli should be waking up very soon. So the German waited, refusing to leave his side even after the hours continued to pass. He stayed in that seat, holding his hand and humming his favorite song.<p>

His mind wandered, constantly thinking about what could have happened if they hadn't been there in time. The doctor said his sweet Italy would have been dead within a week or so if they hadn't gotten to him when they did. This scared Ludwig. What if they had been late? What if they had been only a few days too late? Would they have missed the open slot to save him? Would he be dying right now instead of healing?

Then there was the whole point of the experiments. How did this General find out about their kind in the first place? What was his main goal? None of the notes explained much and Romano didn't remember much. Apparently they had both been questioned but what did that mean? Were there still people out there that wanted them dead…or that wanted to use them for some other purpose? Were the nations still in danger?

Ludwig groaned and leaned back in his chair to make himself more confortable. With his free hand, he kneaded his aching forehead. _Gott…too many questions and not enough answers…_

"Lud…wig…"

The German froze at hearing the voice…t_hat_ voice. That voice he hadn't heard in over a month. That voice that sounded so familiar yet so different. _His _voice. He raised his head and stared into the amber eyes, frozen for a moment.

"Feliciano…"

The Italian smiled and that was it. The spell was broken. He jumped up and kneeled beside his love, his hands immediately tracing the beautiful smile that graced his chapped lips. Even with the partially bandaged face and slightly dulled eyes, this man was still the most beautiful and breathtaking man Ludwig had ever seen in his entire life as a nation.

He leaned in and brought their lips together for the first time in weeks. They pulled away and Ludwig cupped Feliciano's cheeks. A single tear fell from the Italian's eyes and Ludwig gently wiped it away with his thumb.

"I missed you Leibling."

"I missed you too, Doitsu."

They stared into each other's eyes for a few more minutes before Ludwig sighed and kiss his forehead. "Leibling…I need to let the doctor and the others know you're awake." At this Feliciano's face fell and his bottom lip started to tremble slightly.

"D-Don't leave me!"

Germany blinked and his brows furrowed. "Feliciano…I'll be right back…"

He shook his head. "I don't want to be alone…" he whispered softly.

"You're not alone. Look…" he moved slightly so Feliciano could see his brother, sleeping soundly beside him. "Lovino's right there. You're not alone anymore, Leibling. I promise you, I will be right back."

Feliciano stared at his brother and sadly smiled before his brows furrowed a bit. "You…just called him 'Lovino'."

"I did…it seems your brother and I have…come to an understanding." Feliciano nodded and Ludwig stood up. "I will return with the doctor."

The door shut and Feliciano sighed. He felt all the bandages covering his face and body and it made him feel horrible. The last thing he remembered was...

_His hand griped around for his brother…for comfort, but found nothing. He opened his eyes, which he didn't even realize he had closed, and looked around; suddenly frightened, he realized this was not the right cell. They moved him! They had moved him while they both slept!_

_His eyes slammed shut and a tear rolled down his face._

That's why he didn't want to be alone. He looked back at his brother's sleeping form and smiled again. Lovino didn't look _that _bad…from what he could see. He had missed seeing his brother.

Almost as if reading his mind, Lovino started to stir. He sighed and rolled onto his side facing his brother and slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a few times, not really believing what he was seeing.

"Feli…?"

"Ciao, Lovino."

"You're awake?" he nodded. "Bout time bastard…making me wait…"

"I missed you too Lovino."

The door opened and the doctor walked in, followed by Ludwig and Antonio, who had just been allowed to leave his house by France.

"Oh good, you're both awake. Romano, how are you feeling today?"

"Hell of a lot better now that s_omeone_ decided to wake the fuck up." The doctor smiled. "Crude language is finally returning…a good sign." He turned to the other Italian. "And you, Veneziano?"

"Sore…and…um…bandaged…"

The doctor laughed. "I would assume so. We had to cover all the burns…and frankly, there were quite a few." Feliciano's face fell and his eyes began to tear up. So the doctor quickly added, "But no need to worry. We've taken care of all of them and they are on the right path to healing."

Italy nodded, still sadden by his current position. "Now…let's check and make sure everything is on the right path."

The German and Spaniard watched as the man took notes on every positive and negative thing that the Italian felt, check his vitals and even did some tests on both of the Italies, checking on this connection to each other.

Everything came out good and the doctor let them be. "And remember, for the next week, only three countries at a time per Italy. _Then_ we will allow more visitors at a time."

Ludwig took his place beside Feliciano and Antonio, beside Lovino.

"We have collected a lot of information on the facilities where you were both held. Switzerland and a few others have been dedicating their time to placing the pieces together to find out just what his plans were." Italy nodded.

"Ita…" Spain began. "Is there anything you remember that could be helpful to us?"

"Leave him alone, bastard. He just woke up."

"But Lovi-"

"No!"

"Lovino, you could only help us a little bit, I know you want to protect him as much as Antonio and I, but we need to know. What little information he knows, like what you knew, could be vital to our survival as a whole."

Lovino grumbled. "Fratello…it's ok. I want to talk about it."

"I just…I don't remember much. I remember my…time with him at the very beginning. He was testing us on our endurance and…I don't think he realized how _human_ we actually are until he…"

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"But if it will help…he kept taking blood samples from us…"

"There was a mention of blood testing in his notes."

"He played with our minds and…used us against each other." Both brothers shared a single look.

_The man's smile grew as he looked past Lovino at the door, which opened revealing the guard and…_

_"Feli!"_

_The guard produced another chair and placed it before Lovino. In the chair, he tied down his barley conscious brother and attached a few wires on his arms and chest._

_"Feli?" He asked, frantic. The Italian didn't move. "Feliciano? Look at me, dammit! Please!"_

_Feliciano shuddered and lightly lifted his head and stared at Lovino with dazed eyes. "L-Lovi?"_

_"Dios, Feli. Don't worry ok? I'm going to get you out of here…ok?"_

_"Hmm…well, now that you have motivation, let's try this again."_

_An electrical sound was heard that made Lovino freeze in fear. Feliciano's eyes shot open in pain and he screamed as the current passed through his nervous system._

_"Stop! Please! Bastard! Stop!" Playing deaf to his pleads; the man continued his electrical attack on Italy. "Fucking Bastard! Stop! Yes! Yes! Ok? Yes…just…please stop…ok…yes…" Lovino hung his head low and choked back tears as the current and Feliciano's screams stopped. _

Feliciano's bottom lip trembled. Antonio noticed this and clapped his hands together nervously.

"Ok…let's stop this for now. I…I think we have everything we need…" The rest nodded signaling the end of that discussion.

"Now…Lovino…Feli..."

"What, bastard?"

"Ve?"

Spain and Germany shared a look before Antonio stood up. "We have something for the both of you." And with that, he walked out of the room.

"The fuck?" Lovino turned on Ludwig. "What the fuck is he on about?"

"Be patient, Lovino."

"Fuck off…"

The door opened again as Antonio, Francis, Gilbert ("Oh God! Not you two!" Lovino groaned), Kiku, and Elizaveta entered with a basket of tomatoes and a plate of pasta.

Grateful to say that Lovino went silent and ate his tomatoes in peace, without letting go of Spain's hand of course, and he accepted hugs from the Japan and Hungarian nations. ("HELL NO WINE-BASTARD!").

Feliciano squealed in delight and inhaled the pasta, accepting hugs from everybody, much to Lovino's displeasure.

With the past month aside, it seemed things were going back to normal. Slowly but surely, time would heal everything.

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><p><strong><em>Are we pleased with this? *sigh* there is only ONE...MORE...UPDATE...after this. It makes me sad to think that this is the end. *sniffle face*<em>**

**_oh well...now i can fully focus on the OTHER amazing stories i have to write...including: _**

**_a completly NEW story that i have been trying to figure out in secret_**

**_ a PART TWO OF thgintsaldeneppahllehehttahw (yes its backwords...jut to fuck with your brains a litle bit...if you figure it out then you know...if you dont then you'll just have to wait.)_**

**_another couple Music Oneshots_**

**_I'm sorry to say that The Last Night is...kinda been pushed to the side. I'm sorry. I will finish it...eventually. but for now...it is the last thing on my mind. Again, sorry. XC_**

Thats the end of my thing...NOW READ AND REVIEW=LOVE AND FASTER WRITING!


	16. End Transmission

_I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU ALL SO FREAKING MUCH! since this is the end for this story...i am going to give shout outs to all of you who stayed with me~ Grazie~ FREE PASTA FOR LIFE (PFFFT! i wish...)_

_TheUn-AwesomeMe, Meluzina, Nasu-chan luvs tomatoes, Pheonixette101, NONAMESWEREAVAILABLE, Procrastinating Alchemist, Willowfur, Silent Reader,Vaati-Chan, AlTHR33 ,Divine Muffins, ButterflyFlutterCry, LaPirataAna AkiraWolf,Writer888 ,Kuroi Yuki 13, Alina Wolve, JHO14 -Pon, KTDLover ,Mariko Higa ,Scarlet Hanson ,BleakDusk..._

_Thank you all so much! (if i didn't put you i am sorry, but i still love you LOTS!)_

_It makes me so proud...and so freaking sad...to give to you, the last chapter of Lo Ti Proteggero...Fratello_

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><p>He inhaled the sweet aroma from his love, snuggling his face further into his neck. His left hand carefully wound through the other's blonde hair while his right held their bodies close. This, beyond all else, was the most beautiful way to wake up in the morning. The Italian man opened his eyes and giggled when he realized that the other was still asleep.<p>

Just the sight of the peacefully sleeping German man made Feliciano woozy with admiration and love. With half lidded eyes he placed a sweet kiss upon the German's lips, who still in sleep, kissed back. Feliciano giggled against Ludwig's lips. Whatever the former had been dreaming about, he was sure that the kiss had just made it ten times better.

Grudgingly, Feliciano released his hold on Germany, slid out of bed and walked into the bathroom. As he made his way to the shower, something to the left of him caught his eye.

A frown fell on his face as he approached the mirror. His reflection didn't look _too different then it had five years ago, but beneath the façade of happiness there was grief…and memories._

The longer he stared at himself, the more he began to notice the blemishes that would never be fixed no matter how many decades or centuries passed. His once mostly perfect skin now had scars, both light and dark, etched into it. Thankfully his curl had grown back to its proper length and the bones that were once broken, refused together again. He was whole again…mostly.

The skin around eyes still held the dark circles from the years of putting his country back together again. None of this was really that different from the other nations though. They all had their scars from wars past. They all had their ups and downs with the economy. What stood apart from the others were the eyes themselves.

The honey-brown eyes were dimmed and haunted with what had occurred. Feliciano had been captured many times, especially during the world wars, but never, even during the worst moments of his life, had he been treated so ferociously. Worse than one would treat an animal. The mental as well as the physical abuse caused many sleepless nights for the nation. Night terrors, where Italy would wake up screaming, a sound so horrible one would think he was being murdered right there, and flailing around in the bed. Ludwig would be jerked awake and have to quiet the Italian. Lovino and Antonio would come running in, axe and pistol at the ready, only to find that there was no physical enemy that they could fight.

It was decided, especially since Lovino would also suffer from such terrors in mostly the same way, that Antonio would take them to live in his home in Spain. This was mostly so that neither Italian would bother the other pair during the night.

Feliciano shuddered at the remembrance of those nightly visions. Almost always, he would be taken from his fratello, set on fire and watched from the sidelines by a hug crowd as he screamed and melted before their eyes. Ludwig understood all too well. When it happened, the German would simply cuddle and hold his love, sending him promises of safety and love.

The Italian averted his eyes from the glass. Sometimes his reflection was too much to handle. Sometimes he wished that he wasn't a nation bound to live forever. Sometimes…sometimes he just wished that he had died during his captivity.

But then he would see Ludwig smile and everything would melt away. The sun would shine through his horrid mind, forcing the evil to hide away like cockroaches. Everything would be better. He would remember that he is alive for Ludwig, the other half of his heart. He is alive for Lovino, the other half of his soul. He is alive for the people of Italy, the other halves of his body.

Then he would feel at peace.

"Liebling…what are you doing?"

"Eeep!" he jumped as whirled around and tried to catch his breath. "Doitsu! You scared me." He pouted.

Ludwig laughed and walked over to the Italian, wrapping his arms around his slim body. "That wasn't my intention. Forgive me?" Germany lightly pecked the brunette on the cheek.

Feliciano blushed. "Ve…I guess."

"What were you doing just standing here?" Ludwig started lightly kissing Feliciano's neck.

Italy averted his eyes. "Just…thinking."

"Oh? About?"

"…that."

Ludwig stopped immediately and turned his lover to face him. "Oh…do you…want to talk about it?"

He shrugged. "What can I tell you that I haven't already said?"

"Feli…liebling, I love you. With all my heart. I promise, with all the life that lives within me, that I will make sure that nothing ever happens to you again. I will do everything within my power as Germany to keep you safe."

"I know…but…there's nothing you can do about the memories…"

Ludwig smiled slyly…"There is one thing that I can think of that will keep the memories away…at least for a little while."

Feliciano smiled. "Grazie, Ludwig…" The former resumed caressing the Italian's neck causing him to hum in contentment.

"Ve…Ludwig?"

"Hmm?"

"Can we take a shower?"

Ludwig chuckled against his neck. "Whatever you want, Liebling. Whatever you want."

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><p>As soon as the smell of paella reached his nose, Lovino knew it was going to be a good day. He smiled, not really caring if anyone was there to see it, and stretched his still muscles. Memories of last night's events had him smirking even more. At least <em>he wouldn't be the one with the sore ass this time.<em>

Hazel eyes opened to the brilliantly lit room. Though he'd never admit it-to ANYONE-he really did love waking up in Antonio's house. It was always so fresh and open, he felt like he could breathe here. Plus there was the certain Spaniard that he would always wake up to…with his beautiful green eyes that shone so bright and happy.

Again…Lovino would _never admit that little bit of information to anyone._

The door opened and he groggily turned to see Antonio, smile in place, with a tray of paella and a glass of wine.

"Buenos días, mi amor~!" he entered the room with only a _slight limp to his step, making Lovino feel incredibly smug._

"Did you sleep well?"

"Si…"

"That's great, Lovi~!" Antonio made his way over to his side of the bed and sat beside him, holding the tray out. "I made you some paella~! Since I know it's your favorite."

Lovino blushed. "G-Grazie…" He started eating while the Spanish nation watched, smiling.

Ever sense _that experience had ended, Antonio had become incredibly protective of his little Italian. He always knew were his axe was, was paying complete attention to their surroundings (searching for enemies), and always attuning to Lovi's every need. Which, to say the least, not only annoyed the Italian by making him feel incapable, but it also made him feel…like shit. Toni was always there for him, always had been, while Lovino was always putting him down and pushing him away. It always made him wonder why the nation had even bothered with him. No one else ever had…_

"Lovi…is it not good?"

Lovino looked over to the frowning man and then back to his plate. He had only taken a few bites before getting lost in unappetizing thoughts.

"No, Toni…it's good."

"Then what's wrong?"

Lovino tsked. "Nothing, Bastard. Quit watching me while I eat." _Dio…why did I just say that! Fuck…now I feel even more like shit. What if he leaves me now? Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Toni! Please don't leave me! Please see through this façade!_

Spain sighed, but remained where he was.

Lovino mentally sighed. It had been so fucking hard dealing with the past five years. First, he'd been in the hospital for fucking _ever! Then Feli and him were released into a shitass economy without a goddamn house to even live in. Then, the first night sleeping at their temporary house, the first fucking night sleeping in Antonio's arms…and he had a fucking nightmare! He screamed like a little bitch with Spain grabbing his axe-which he must have kept under his fucking pillow or something-and Germany and Feliciano running in to see what was wrong. It had been so embarrassing. Germany and Feli went back to bed while Antonio had just held him, like he used to do when he was Chibiromano._

Then two nights later, _Feliciano was the one with the nightmares. It went downhill from there. They each suffered from their memories, sometimes both on the same night, constantly keeping the other occupants awake. (Apparently they hadn't shown signs at the hospital because, guess what? People don't fucking _sleep in hospitals!) After about three months with no sleep, Antonio decided that they should go to a different house so as not to bother his brother and lover any more when they weren't needed.__

Things had gotten better after that. It wasn't like he _never went home again. Actually, he had just returned from spending two weeks with just his fratello (No potato or tomato bastards allowed, che!). It had been nice…familiar. They spent it just being near each other, talking. The topic of what happened five years ago rarely came up, neither wanting to bring up memories. They already had their heart to heart and once was enough. Scratch that. _Twice was enough! After _they talked about it, they had to tell their stories to the _entire world! That had sucked ass.____

But Antonio had been there with him the whole time. Helping him to cope. Helping him heal. And how had Lovino thanked him? By being his usual bastard self.

"Why do you put up with me?"

Antonio, who had been spacing off, turned and faced him. "Hmm?"

"Why do you bother with me?"

His jaw dropped. "Lovi…what are you talking about?"

"Why the fuck do you bother with me? Why do you keep coming back, even after I push you away? Why…How can you love someone like me? I don't deserve you…"

Spain looked like he'd been slapped. "What do you mean 'you don't deserve me?"

"I'm saying that there is nothing about me with your time! I'm a horrible person! Everything that has happened has been my fault! I didn't do anything when the army invaded and I did nothing to protect my brother. Because of me...because of me he had to suffer. Because of me he had was taken for experimentation by a mad man..."

"Lovi...that's not your fault. It's no one's fault. The only person responsible for that is _him and him alone. And I'm with you because I love you. I love you so much. It was torture without you. I could never do that again."_

"Then you're fucking stupid because I'm not worth your time!"

"Shut up!"

Lovino froze and gaped at him. Antonio had never, in his entire life, raised his voice to him. Spain's arm was shaking as he tried to control his anger. "Lovino...you are not worthless, you are not hated. I love you, your brother loves you and you are worth every second if my time. What happened in your...captivity...like when you fought to protect and comfort Ita...it was probably the only real thing keeping your brother alive. You heard him. He was frightened and clung to you for help and protection. You helped give him strength. You helped to keep him alive. So no...you are not worthless, so stop making yourself out to be such." Lovino gawked, not quite sure how to respond.

"Toni...I..."

"No, don't give me any more 'I'm worthless shit'. You are NOT worthless. You are every bit as important and loved as anyone else I know." Spain smiled. "I love and put up with you because you have taken my heart in your loving grasp and refused to give it back. You've had my heart for so long that...I wouldn't even know what to do with it if you ever decided to give it back..."

Lovino still had no idea what to say and refused to look the man in the eye. They both remained silent for the longest time; neither really knowing how to end the awkward silence. Finally, Antonio clapped his hands, shocking Lovino from his stupor.

"So, how about we go to the park today? We can have a nice picnic by the lake."

Hazel eyes meet luscious green, making the younger smile. "Alright…as long as you don't forget the gelato this time."

Spain laughed in response and scoped his love up bridal style, carrying him out of the room and down the stairs. Once they reached the landing, Lovino pecked the Spaniard on the cheek, blushing deeply.

"Toni…ti amo..."

"Y te quiero, mio tomate…y te quiero."

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><p><em>THE END!<em>

_(i always wanted to say that~~~~) So...yes...that was it. I hope it ended well for all of you (if it didnt then i am sorry.) i needed it to end sweet, but not cheesy (which i failed at Xp ) *shrug* i hope some things got cleared up...i hope. If not then i guess it will be in the SEQUEL! JK! i am NOT writing a sequel...unless you bastards beg me to (LOL jk at the bastards bit...really...not...no, really)_

_No, i didn't clear up the general bit...use your imaginations...unless i get attcked with PMs and hate mail saying i HAVE TO WRITE MORE! (lawl...PMs looks like pms...like icky period-ness...LOLOLOLOL sorry, i had to tell you since i just saw that~)_

_If i do...it wont be for a loooong while...cuz i have other shit to do...unless, again, i get beaten to death with hate mail and stuff...*shrug*_

_i guess...that's all i have to say. I hope you enjoyed, because i sure as hell did~~~ grazie grazie grazie_

_signing out on this story_

_-Ve~ REV_


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